U.S. Senate Candidate Kari Lake (R-AZ) Kari Lake speaks during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mike Segar | Reuters<\/p>\n
A federal judge ruled on Saturday that Kari Lake’s leadership of the U.S. Agency for Global Media for much of last year violated federal law, invalidating \u2060a sweeping series of actions she took to cut staff and end many operations at its Voice \u200bof America unit. <\/p>\n
In another \u200bblow to the Trump \u200badministration’s attempts to diminish various government agencies, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs \u2014 including VOA journalists and a union representing federal employees \u2014 who argued that \u2060Lake’s \u200cappointment as acting CEO and actions she took in \u2060that role ran afoul of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.<\/p>\n
Lamberth ruled that Lake was ineligible to serve as acting CEO because she was not employed by USAGM when former CEO \u200cAmanda Bennett resigned in January 2025, and had not been confirmed by the Senate to any other federal post. Lake officially joined USAGM in March \u200bas a senior adviser. A November 21 news release from the agency called her deputy CEO.<\/p>\n
The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that Lake could wield CEO authority through a delegation from the previous acting CEO, Victor Morales. <\/p>\n
Saturday’s decision marks \u2060at least the third time Lamberth has ruled against the Trump administration in cases involving the Voice \u200cof America. The judge, in April and September, halted plans that \u200cwould have put many VOA employees out of work, although the April ruling was later overturned by an appeals court.<\/p>\n
Lake vowed to appeal Lamberth’s latest ruling. <\/p>\n
“Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist \u2060rulings \u2014 and this case is no different,” she said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for \u2060the plaintiffs did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Under the Vacancies \u2060Act, actions taken by someone not lawfully serving in a vacant office “shall have no force or effect” and cannot be ratified, Lamberth wrote. \u200bThat standard could threaten the legal standing of \u200cLake’s decisions, including a reduction-in-force affecting hundreds of employees that remains under a court-ordered suspension.<\/p>\n
“As a consequence, any actions taken by Lake during her asserted tenure as acting CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025…are void,” Lamberth wrote.<\/p>\n
Voice of America, which had broadcast in 49 languages to \u200b420 million people across more than 100 \u200ccountries, was limited to four languages under the administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency. \u200b<\/p>\n