Judge orders Trump administration to bring back U.S. Agency for Global Media staff

A federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to bring back staff at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which the president has sought to dismantle. 

Specifically, District Judge Royce C. Lamberth is requiring Trump officials to return employees and contractors who were put on leave or terminated to their statuses before March 14, when Trump signed an executive order directing the elimination of non-statutory components and functions at USAGM as well as other agencies. 

As a result of the EO, many employees were let go at government-funded outlets that aim to provide news to people living in restricted media environments around the world, including Voice of America. 

Lamberth, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, took issue with how the Trump administration decided what parts of USAGM were non-statutory. 

“Not only is there an absence of ‘reasoned analysis’ from the defendants; there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever,” he wrote. “[T]he defendants have provided no indication that an analysis was undertaken to determine which aspects of USAGM are statutorily required and which are not.”

As part of the preliminary injunction, the judge also ordered the Trump administration to “restore VOA programming such that USAGM fulfills its statutory mandate that VOA ‘serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news,’” while the case is ongoing.   

Unions and advocacy groups celebrated the preliminary injunction. 

“The Trump administration’s illegal attempt to shutter Voice of America and other outlets under the U.S. Agency for Global Media was a transparent effort to silence the voices of patriotic journalists and professionals who have dedicated their careers to spreading the truth and fighting propaganda from lawless authoritarian regimes,” said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley in a statement. “This preliminary injunction will allow these employees to get back to work as we continue the fight to preserve their jobs and critical mission.”

Administration officials have accused USAGM of financial mismanagement, spreading “fake news” and attempting to “Trump-Proof” the agency. 

“Waste, fraud and abuse run rampant in this agency and American taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund it,” Kari Lake said in a statement. Lake is a former journalist and unsuccessful GOP Arizona Senate candidate who Trump tapped to be a senior adviser at USAGM.