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By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to temporarily pause its efforts to shut down Voice of America, stopping the government from firing 1,300 journalists and other employees at the U.S. news service that were abruptly placed on leave earlier this month.
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken said in a Friday opinion that the Trump administration could not unilaterally terminate Voice of America and related radio programs that were approved and funded by Congress. Rescinding funds for those programs would require congressional approval, the judge wrote.
Oetken did not require Voice of America to resume broadcasts, but his order made clear that employees should not be fired until further court proceedings could determine whether the shutdown was "arbitrary and capricious" in violation of federal law.
"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.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other government-funded media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The agency had told unions that it was about to terminate 623 Voice of America employees, a number that "entirely forecloses" any attempt to resume broadcasts at the level envisioned by Congress, according to court documents filed by the plaintiffs.
Voice of America was founded to combat Nazi propaganda at the height of World War Two, and it has grown to become an international media broadcaster, operating in more than 40 languages and spreading U.S. news narratives into countries lacking a free press. As a group, U.S. Agency for Global Media employed roughly 3,500 workers with an $886 million budget in 2024, according to its latest report to Congress.
Voice of America journalists and their unions sued the U.S. Agency for Global Media, its acting director Victor Morales, and Special Adviser Kari Lake last week, saying that their shutdown violated the workers' constitutional First Amendment right to free speech.
The Voice of America employees' lawsuit is one of four pending challenges to the Trump administration's attempted shutdown of government-funded media programs. Other challenges have been filed by Radio Free Europe, a separate group of Voice of America employees, and grant recipient Open Technology Fund.
U.S. Agency for Global Media had argued that it had not violated the laws that governed Voice of America's operations. The agency said in court filings that it had reduced operations to a "statutory minimum" by restoring broadcasts in Cuba and reinstating 33 employees at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Rosalba O'Brien)
