Lake, whom Trump appointed without Senate confirmation to run Voice of America parent agency, cut over 1,000 jobs
Michael Sainato at The Guardian:
A federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully led the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for several months last year and voided mass layoffs and other actions taken during that period to dismantle the agency. The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency thatĀ overseesĀ the Voice of America (VOA), the USās largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provides grants to Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other news agencies. The Trump administration moved to defund the agency in early 2025 and appointed Lake to oversee the agency, but did not receive Senate confirmation for her role. Despite efforts to defund the agency, CongressĀ appropriatedĀ half a billion dollars more than Lake requested in funding for the agency in 2026. In her role, Lake cut contracts andĀ over 1,000 staff positionsĀ at the agency when she was appointed to the role on 31 July before she relinquished the position on 19 November.
āOnly the Appointments Clause or the Vacancies Actās exclusive structure may authorize service as a principal officer, and Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution,ā US district court judge Royce C Lamberth wrote in the ruling. LamberthĀ leanedĀ on the ruling by theĀ third circuitĀ court of appeals that ruled the appointment of Alina Habba, Donald Trumpās former personal lawyer, to lead the US attorneyās office in New Jersey was invalid.
āAdopting Lakeās position would require the Court to find that the President can fill a first assistantship at any time during a vacancy in a Senate-confirmed office and then ⦠elevate the first assistant to serve as the acting officer,ā LamberthĀ saidĀ in the ruling.
Lake said in aĀ statementĀ on social media: āWe will appeal this outrageous ruling from an activist DC District Court Judge.ā Lake alsoĀ repostedĀ a claim that the judge slept through arguments in the trial, responding ānot surprised. Morbid obesity can cause massive issues with blood sugar.ā [...] Plaintiffs in the case, Voice of Americaās White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, Jessica Jerreat and Kate Neeper, said they felt āvindicated and deeply gratefulā for the judgeās ruling in the case.
āTheĀ judgeās rulingĀ that Kari Lakeās actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,ā they said in aĀ statement. āEven as we work through what this ruling means for colleagues harmed by her actions, it brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOAās global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda.ā
Judge Royce Lambert ruled in Widakuswara v. Lake that Kari Lake unlawfully led the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) in violation of the Appointments Clause and the Vacancies Act.
Lakeās mass layoffs of USAGM employees and dismantling of its various operations will be ruled void as a result of the ruling.
See Also:
Reuters, via HuffPost: Judge Voids 2025 Actions Taken By Kari Lake As Voice Of America CEO, Including Job Cuts
Politico: Judge says Kari Lakeās tenure atop US media agency was improper, voids actions as āacting CEOā
MS NOW: Judge voids Kari Lakeās mass layoffs at Voice of America















