Washington, D.C. — A federal court granted the Trump-Vance administration’s request to pause the effects of its order requiring the U.S. Agency for Global Media to bring Voice of America (VOA) staff back to work, allowing employees to remain on administrative leave for now, while the case proceeds.
The district court had previously ruled that the administration’s actions to dismantle USAGM, suspend broadcasts, and place more than 1,000 employees on administrative leave were unlawful. However, today’s decision delays the implementation of that ruling.
The coalition of plaintiffs includes federal worker unions, individual employees, and press freedom organizations. The four union plaintiffs representing USAGM employees are the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), and The News Guild CWA. The seven individual employees include VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, VOA press freedom editor Jessica Jerreat, and Kate Neeper, USAGM’s director of strategy and performance assessment. The two press freedom organizations are Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) and Reporters Without Borders, Inc. (RSF USA).
Counsel for plaintiffs includes Democracy Forward, Government Accountability Project, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, Democracy Defenders Fund, Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic – Yale Law School, AFSCME, AFGE, AFSA, and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP.
Plaintiffs issued the following joint statement:
“The district court has already made clear that the Trump-Vance administration’s actions to dismantle Voice of America and sideline its journalists are unlawful. Today’s decision delays, but does not change, that reality. Every day that VOA remains sidelined is a loss for press freedom, for workers, and for audiences around the world who rely on independent, fact-based journalism. We brought this case to defend the rule of law and the integrity of a critical public institution, and we will continue fighting to ensure that VOA staff can return to work to fulfill their mission.”
Plaintiffs brought this case to stop the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to dismantle USAGM, silence independent journalism, and strip workers of their jobs in violation of federal law and the First Amendment.
The case is Widakuswara et al. v. Lake et al.
