Federal Judge Voids Actions Kari Lake Took as Voice of America CEO

A federal judge ruled on March 7 that Kari Lake’s leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media throughout much of 2025, including her implementation of layoffs at its Voice of America unit, violated federal law.

Voice of America journalists, a union representing federal workers, and others sued Lake, arguing that her appointment as acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media and her efforts to lay off employees violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the appointments clause of the Constitution.

On March 7, Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.

Lake was not eligible to serve as acting CEO, since the U.S. Agency for Global Media was not employing her when its preceding CEO, Amanda Bennett, resigned in January 2025, the judge ruled. Lake was also not confirmed by the Senate to serve any other federal position, violating the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

Although Lake officially joined the U.S. Agency for Global Media as a senior adviser in March 2025, a statement from November 2025 refers to her as deputy CEO.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media oversees Voice of America.

Lamberth rejected the Trump administration’s argument that Lake could operate with CEO authority via a delegation from Victor Morales, the previous acting CEO.

“The Court finds that these expansive delegations were an unlawful effort to transform Lake into the CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media in all but name, and therefore violated [Section] 3347(b) of the Vacancies Act,” Lamberth wrote in his ruling.

The judge also noted that when President Donald Trump appointed Lake as director of Voice of America, he did so by removing six of the seven members of its International Broadcasting Advisory Board.

Since the Voice of America director can only be “removed if such action has been approved by a majority vote” of the advisory board, Trump could not remove and replace the organization’s incumbent director with Lake until the board “regained a quorum,” Lamberth ruled.

Lamberth’s decision on March 7 is at least the third instance in which the judge has ruled against the Trump administration over actions taken in relation to Voice of America. In April 2025 and September 2025, he stopped efforts to lay off hundreds of Voice of America employees, although an appeals court later overturned his April ruling.

“Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings—and this case is no different,” Lake said in a statement posted to social media. “We strongly disagree with this decision and will appeal.”

Lamberth has been serving as a federal judge for the district court since 1987, when he was appointed by the Reagan administration.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)—one of the plaintiffs in the case—called the ruling a “major victory for federal workers.”

The named plaintiffs, Patsy Widakuswara, Kathryn Neeper, and Jessica Jerreat, said in a joint statement that they “feel vindicated and deeply grateful.”

The White House did not respond by publication time to a request for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.