The Trump administration Friday initiated layoffs of 532 Voice of America (VOA) employees, escalating a legal confrontation with U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who had previously blocked efforts to restructure the federally funded news network.
The NY Times reports Kari Lake, acting chief executive of VOA’s parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced the layoffs on social media, stating they would refocus resources on delivering news to audiences under communist regimes and dictatorships.
Approximately 100 journalists and staff remain employed.
This move follows a failed June attempt to lay off around 600 employees, rescinded due to errors in layoff notices, such as incorrect service years and veteran statuses. Paula Hickey, president of the VOA employees’ union, denounced the layoffs as illegal, accusing the administration of disregarding federal workers and the rule of law.
Judge Lamberth, in April 2025, ordered the Trump administration to restore VOA’s operations, citing the International Broadcasting Act, which mandates VOA’s continued broadcasting to provide “reliable and authoritative” news to significant global audiences.
Despite this, VOA’s broadcasts have been slashed from 49 languages reaching 360 million people weekly to just four—Persian, Mandarin, Dari, and Pashto. Nearly all of VOA’s 1,300 journalists were either fired or placed on paid leave prior to these latest cuts.
The layoffs came one day after Lamberth ruled on Thursday Lake could not fire VOA Director Michael Abramowitz without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, a bipartisan panel designed to shield VOA from political interference.
Last Wednesday, Lamberth ordered Lake to testify under oath by September 15, warning she was “verging on contempt” for failing to provide details on VOA’s restructuring and compliance with his April order.
Government lawyers argue that the administration has broad discretion under the International Broadcasting Act to scale back VOA’s operations, citing Trump’s executive powers.