"A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to rehire all Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Network staff for now, and he said all congressional funding must resume to the outlets, which had been effectively shuttered by the administration.

D.C. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of the plaintiff, VOA journalist Patsy Widakuswara and her colleagues, against Kari Lake, the acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. USAGM is supposed to be an independent federal agency overseeing public service media networks.

The judge instructed the defendants to take all necessary steps to return the employees and their contractors to their outlets, so they can "provide news which is consistently reliable and authoritative, accurate, objective and comprehensive.""

Jacob Rosen and Kathryn Watson report for CBS News April 22, 2025. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Judge Blocks Trump Administration Plans To Dismantle Voice Of America" (NPR) [3]

"Judge Halts Shutdown Of Voice Of America" (Politico) [4]

"Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Dismantle Voice of America" (New York Times) [5]