U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled on March 17 that Kari Lake, the Trump administration's appointee to oversee the U.S. Agency for Global Media, had been unlawfully appointed to her role and that her actions dismantling Voice of America were therefore invalid. The judge ordered the reinstatement of all 1,042 Voice of America employees who had been placed on paid administrative leave and directed the resumption of full broadcasting operations by March 23. CNN, the Washington Post, NPR, and NBC News all confirmed the ruling, with Lamberth describing Lake's actions as "arbitrary and capricious."

The ruling came roughly 10 days after Lamberth had first found that Lake was unlawfully exercising the powers of the USAGM chief executive — a Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed role she had never been confirmed to hold. Lamberth ruled that because her appointment was unlawful, every action she had taken to shut down VOA's operations, furlough its staff, and dismantle its newsrooms was equally invalid.

Within days, the Trump administration appealed and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted a stay, blocking Lamberth's reinstatement order from taking effect while the appeal proceeds. Lake called it "a huge victory for President Trump and his Article II powers" and said the decision validated her authority to restructure the federally funded broadcaster. Fox News reported the stay prominently as a constitutional win for the executive branch.

Voice of America, founded in 1942, broadcasts news in more than 40 languages to an estimated 360 million weekly viewers globally, primarily in authoritarian countries where access to independent news is restricted. Its shutdown since early 2025 has been cited by press-freedom organizations and U.S. allies as a significant blow to American soft power. The underlying question of whether the administration has authority to functionally dissolve a congressionally chartered broadcaster without legislative approval remains unresolved pending appeal.