Court orders Trump’s administration to cancel the closure of Voice of America

A judge of a federal court in Washington has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to stop efforts aimed at extinction of Voice of America (VOA), which closed last month.

VOA has described the administration’s movements to close the broadcaster illegal.

Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on April 23 on the issuance of a preliminary order that officials should « take all the necessary steps » to return employees and collaborators to their VOA positions and to return funds, approved by Congress, to the other US -funded broadcasters, Radio Asia and Radio and Radio. and internet.

Lamberth, who is handling six lawsuits by employees and collaborators affected by the closure ordered by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees federal broadcasters, also ordered the media to submit monthly reports on performance, to indicate whether Usagm is implementing the order to « offer news that are constantly, objective.

Usagm has not publicly responded to the court’s ruling.

Last month, VOA filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, after the administration, through an executive order, was instructed by Usagm and six other federal agencies to reduce their work to the minimum required by law.

Subsequently, Usagm sent more than 1,000 employees to leave and terminated contracts with about 600 associates, forcing VOA to stop the broadcast for the first time since its founding in 1942.

Usagm had argued that there is no « final decision » regarding the future of the VOA future and that lawsuits should be treated as « employment disputes » with employees fired.

Radio Free Europe has also filed a lawsuit against Usagm to « avoid irreparable damage » to the broadcaster for suspending the grant-approved by the Congress-as part of Usagm’s efforts to terminate Rel funding.

The Radio Free Europe Case is still being treated by the court