Voice of America head was illegally fired by Kari Lake, court says, backing reinstatement

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday said former Voice of America (VOA) head Kari Lake illegally fired former director Michael Abramowitz, backing his reinstatement in the role.

The three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that Lake fired Abramowitz without independent approval amid the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the VOA’s parent agency.

“We conclude by considering remedy. Defendants assert that the district court lacked authority to enjoin them from removing Abramowitz without the Broadcasting Board’s approval,” the panel wrote . “That argument, too, is foreclosed by our precedent … Defendants contest the district court’s power to enjoin Abramowitz’s removal, but they point to nothing to counter his contention that no other form of relief would redress his injury.”

Abramowitz said in a statement obtained by Politico that he was “gratified” by the ruling and said he looked forward to returning “to the important work Voice of America does worldwide on behalf of the American people.”

The appeals court unanimously upheld the ruling made by Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last year determining that the USAGM did not have the authority to fire Abramowitz and that the Reagan appointed judge could reinstate Abramowitz.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Lambert ordered in March that VOA rehire its employees more than a year after President Trump significantly downsized USAGM, accusing the administration of a “flagrant and nearly year-long” refusal to uphold congressional mandates by dwindling its staff and resources.

In April 2025, Lamberth indefinitely blocked the administration’s attempts to dismantle VOA.

Abramowitz and a handful of VOA reporters, unions and the international free press advocacy nonprofit Reporters Without Borders sued the Trump administration over its effort to disband VOA.

Lake, who Lamberth ruled was leading the agency unlawfully, was an outspoken critic of the broadcaster and defended the administration’s attempts to overhaul its operations. She said she “strongly” disagreed with Lamberth’s ruling that she illegally led the agency.

“The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government,” Lake said in a statement previously obtained by The Washington Post . “An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM.”

Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to gut USAGM, which also oversaw several other networks around the world, like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.