Federal Judge Voids Kari Lake's Actions at Voice of America
A federal judge has struck down all actions taken by Kari Lake during her time as acting chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, ruling that the Trump appointee lacked the legal authority to oversee the agency and declaring her dismantling of Voice of America unlawful.
Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., issued the ruling on Saturday, finding that Lake had run the independent federal agency in violation of the Constitution's appointments clause. The decision renders void every official action she took between July 31 and November 19, 2025, the period covering her asserted tenure as acting CEO.
"Any actions taken by Lake during her asserted tenure as acting CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025...are void," Judge Lamberth wrote in his ruling.
The consequences of the decision are wide-ranging. Among the actions nullified are the layoffs of more than 1,000 journalists and staffers at Voice of America, a federally funded international broadcaster that has operated for decades as a flagship of American public diplomacy. The scale of those cuts had drawn widespread criticism and legal challenges, with opponents arguing that Lake had effectively moved to dismantle the agency.
The ruling amounts to one of the most significant judicial checks to date on the Trump administration's efforts to reshape and reduce the federal government's international media operations. Lake, a prominent Trump ally and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate, had been appointed to lead the agency as part of a broader push to restructure federally supported broadcasting.
CBS News reported that the judge found Lake did not have legal authority to take the actions she undertook in largely dismantling Voice of America. The Hill noted that the decision specifically cited a constitutional violation, with Lamberth concluding that Lake's appointment and the manner in which she exercised authority ran afoul of the appointments clause, a constitutional provision governing how federal officers may be designated and empowered.
The Washington Post reported that the layoffs had been among the most sweeping in the agency's history before they were declared void by the court. NPR noted that Lamberth declared all of Lake's actions over the past year to be null and void in a ruling that drew a clear line between legitimate executive authority and what the court found to be an unlawful exercise of power.
The ruling leaves open questions about the practical restoration of the agency's workforce and operations. With more than 1,000 layoffs now legally voided, the agency and the administration face significant logistical and legal questions about next steps, including whether affected employees will be reinstated and under what terms normal operations might resume.
The Justice Department and the administration had not issued public comment on the ruling at the time of publication. Legal analysts expect the decision to be contested, potentially setting the stage for an appeal that could carry the constitutional questions around the appointments clause to a higher court.
