A US federal judge temporarily blocked a move by President Donald Trump’s administration to lay off more than 500 Voice of America employees, according to a court order on Monday.
Kari Lake, a senior adviser to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has spearheaded Trump’s effort to gut government-funded media, despite legal disputes and criticism that US adversaries will benefit.
Hundreds of employees received termination notices in June, following a Trump order that froze the outlet for the first time since it was founded in 1942.
But US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled against Lake and blocked the terminations, which were meant to take effect on September 30.
“The Reduction in Force announced by Defendant Lake on or about August 29, 2025, is SUSPENDED and may NOT be implemented … until this Court has ruled on the plaintiffs’ Motion,” Lamberth wrote, referring to further legal proceedings set for next month.
The court issued a preliminary injunction in April after concluding Lake’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law,” the judge said in the 19-page legal order.