Court order temporarily blocks Trump’s shutdown of Voice of America
sp/hw
29.03.2025, 17:56
Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A court order has temporarily blocked the U.S. government’s drive to close down the state-funded Voice of America (VOA) news network, which served audiences in countries lacking press freedom.
The decree, issued on Friday, prevents the Donald Trump administration from sacking around 1,300 reporters and other staff. However, it does not mean the service will resume broadcasting.
VOA employees were put on leave and the outlet went off air on March 15 after Trump signed a presidential order drastically reducing the operations of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
The decision also affected other global news services financed by the American government such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The broadcasters serve audiences worldwide in dozens of languages, specifically targeting areas where there is little independent media, but Trump sympathizers claim they have an anti-conservative bias.
Friday’s judgement, taken after Trump’s decree was challenged in court, said the president could not unilaterally terminate VOA and related radio programs that were approved and funded by Congress, the Reuters news agency reported.
Rescinding funds for those programs would require congressional approval, the judge wrote. As such, VOA staff cannot not be fired until further court proceedings determine whether the shutdown was in violation of federal law.
The order also bars funding cuts for RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia, according to The Hill website. A separate court challenge earlier this week resulted in a temporary restraining order blocking attempts to switch off RRFE/RL. Other appeals have been lodged by press freedom organizations, workers, and others.
“This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a sharp rebuke to an administration that has shown utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy,” said Andrew Celli, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
VOA ‘needs modernization’
The right-wing populist government’s efforts to close down USAGM-financed overseas media is driven by Trump’s special adviser Kari Lake. In light of the rulings, she suggested the administration would like to reshape VOA.
“Voice of America has an incredible mission. It needs to return to it,” Lake wrote on X. “We’re going modernize it, make it more efficient, and ensure that instead of spreading anti-American propaganda, it’s spreading information aligned with our diplomatic policies.”
VOA was founded to combat Nazi propaganda at the height of World War II, while RFE/RL has its origins in the Cold War. Both networks spent decades broadcasting news from a Western perspective into areas where independent media is scarce or under threat.
