On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration‘s attempt to shut down government-funded international radio broadcasts, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
He seeks to take over operations.
At the heart of Judge Lamberth’s decision: VOA is funded by Congress and required to produce news for a wide audience around the world. Lamberth said the deep cuts to the agency are “a direct affront to the power of the legislative branch.”
He said it likely violates the law since it is statutorily mandated and has constitutional requirements. He said the legislative branch funds it, and it oversteps its authority. Kari Lake, who ran it until this judge took it over, said they were stripping it down to its statutory limits.
If there are statutes protecting it, Congress must act, but they won’t. They’ve done nothing. When we win the Supreme Court, House, Senate, and Presidency, we lose. Everything is set up so Democrats always win. They have permanent slush funds and bureaucratic power that exists even if they win the election.
The Story
Last month, all employees were placed on leave.
The shutdown, implemented in March by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), had placed over 1,000 employees on leave, prompting six lawsuits from affected staff and contractors.
Judge Lamberth directed the administration to take all necessary measures to reinstate the employees and resume the broadcasts. He cited congressional authorization and funding of these broadcasts, emphasizing their mission to deliver accurate, objective, and comprehensive news to global audiences.
“In short, the defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM that this Court can discern,” said Lamberth, an appointee of former President Reagan who has sentenced people to prison for merely walking around the Capitol on January 6.
“They took immediate and drastic action to slash USAGM, without considering its statutorily or constitutionally required functions as required by the plain language of the EO, and without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers around the world.
“It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here,” the judge said.
Kari Lake has said that Voice of America and its appendages have been taxpayer-funded propaganda. They are spreading Marxism, LGBT ideology, DEI, CCP propaganda, and anti-Americanism. She called it corrupt.
Kari Lake said they don’t know where the money goes, and the plan was to strip it down to its statutory minimum.
.@KariLake: “Maybe a little more than half of our budget, which Congress appropriates, comes into the agency and immediately slides right into these grantees.
We’re trying to figure out where the money is going when it hits those grantees bank accounts. Is it going towards… pic.twitter.com/qps6B0cKTU
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) April 9, 2025
Far-left Eisen, a close friend of Justice Roberts for years, gloats:
Norm Eisen is celebrating his lawfare to keep the Voice of America propaganda going. Since he is so gung-ho about VoA, @KariLake should make 100% of the content about Making America Great Again and 24/7/365 anti-globalist messaging. pic.twitter.com/iKCrMgH2ga
— The Researcher (@listen_2learn) April 22, 2025
Margo Cleveland’s Response
Marot Cleveland said another judge trumped the President’s executive authority.
The court seeks to control operations and wants monthly reports from the Trump administration.
The court ordered the reinstatement of those with personal service contracts, even though those contracts provide that they can be terminated with 15 days’ notice.
The court’s “reasoning,” such as it is:
Before the Court is the plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, which seeks to enjoin the defendants from dismantling the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) in response to Executive Order 14238, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” announced by President Trump on March 14, 2025.
The plaintiffs allege that USAGM’s actions, purportedly in furtherance of the Executive Order—terminating and threatening to terminate the majority of USAGM staff, ending grants to its affiliates, and silencing programming—violate the First Amendment, constitutional separation of powers principles, the Take Care Clause, and statutory provisions including the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), International Broadcasting Act, and congressional appropriations acts.
Broadly, the plaintiffs ask this Court to order the defendants to take all necessary steps to return USAGM and its employees, contractors, and grantees to their status prior to the March 14, 2025, Executive Order.
The X Posts:
Another federal judge entered another injunction trumping the Trump Administration’s executive authority. The D.C. Circuit has already stayed similar injunctions holding claims must go to the Court of Claims. Here we have that plus employment disputes. 1/ pic.twitter.com/NsjiPa2I6N
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) April 23, 2025
3/ To illustrate how out of bounds this order is, the court ordered the reinstatement of those with personal service contracts even though those contracts provide they can be terminated with 15 days notice. pic.twitter.com/5lIGk9CtZ4
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) April 23, 2025
4/4 Here’s the court’s “reasoning” https://t.co/wSDn8beWV2
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) April 23, 2025
In the age of the Internet and wireless communications the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks are no longer necessary propaganda tools. However, if this judge wants to keep them going, we should require him to pay for it all.
Easy, Feds transfer all control and costs over to the Court,
Problem solved everyone happy…Feds charge rental for the equipment
Hire them back, but at jobs like cleaning toilets, washing windows, etc…make their lives miserable, until they quit.
Since when do judges run the country? If the dishonorable judge wants VOA back then he should pay for it. The Judiciary is a joke, no honor and no knowledge of the constitution!
Is the ” Judge ” going to pay them out of his pocket?
Rehire to comply! Make them clean toilets and put Gutfeld and Watters on the air!
That will end that! Libtard Judge will order it shut down!
Enjoy the clown show!
Another crazy judge who thinks he’s the President… this order needs to be disobeyed and whatever is remaining of the network has to go to a 24/7 MAGA format.
Existing statutes and laws clearly state that these democrat appointed judges have no authority to order any changes concerning President Trumps actions.
ignore them. Their only real power to disrupt this nation that they have is if they paid attention too.
Another so called judge bought and paid for by the demonrat crime syndicate!
Will the judge remove all Trump Administration reforms and force the Voice of America to resume anti-American liberal programming?
DJT needs to go full Andrew Jackson and simple ignore these unconstitutional
ruling by “judges” with no authority to issue rulings that ouside their jurisdiction.
Tell these judges to pound sand.
ignore them. fire more of them.
Issue the termination notices for the contractors. Assign a concervative to run the operation and issue strict guidelines as to the content of broadcasts. Maybe turn it into a 24 hour sports broadcast. Fire anyone that violates the guidelines until it can be terminated by congress (yeah, as if the left and the slack jawed rino’s would ever).
The Judiciary is digging its own–and our Illusory Republic’s–grave with this constant attempt to usurp Constitutional authority over the Executive. The Judiciary actually has ZERO such authority. The President literally cannot be compelled by any other government Office to do (or not do) anything. Courts can merely provide their viewpoints, which if ignored by POTUS, Congress may enforce via Impeachment, or the People may enforce via elections. Indeed, the Courts cannot compel anyone really? General enforcement of any Judicial ruling requires cooperation from the Executive. And no one can make POTUS enforce a federal court ruling on anyone else who might otherwise ignore it, too. Clown World, sure, which just exposes the House of Cards our Republic is, founded on the abjecly phony, non-existent, impossible-to-ever-exist concept of “Rule of Law.” Mankind ultimately only ever rules by whim!
Invite the judge to come and run it and produce the reports they want control give it to them good and hard.
Ah, the Demwits. Democracy in action. I thought we had a President who could act at the will of the PEOPLE, who theoretically in charge of our country. Seems these judges are seeing just how far they can go. These cases could take until Trump is out of office …which is their intention of course. I feel my inner Samuel Adams stirring.
It’s all good, Bob. The ‘cold civil-war’ between party members (not between parties because there is really only one party) WILL go hot at some point. Got a list of judges…..
We now have one branch of government, the judicial, that is running everything. The legislative branch does nothing, while the executive branch is not allowed to do anything.
A thousand upvotes.
When all the re-hired workers return, assign them all the job of exclusively investigating and reporting on U.S. corrupt judges and gov’t officials that are opposing the Trump administration.
If they don’t produce great results and expose lots of corruption in the judiciary and gov’t employees, fire them again for poor performance.
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