Another Donald Trump move blocked, his administration warned that their ‘disrespect’ could trigger contempt trial

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has stopped the Trump administration from going ahead with mass layoffs at Voice of America. The ruling blocks plans to cut 532 full-time government jobs at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Kari Lake, the acting CEO of USAGM, had said in late August that these job cuts would happen on September 30, 2025.

In his 19-page decision issued Monday, Judge Lamberth gave sharp criticism of Lake and how the Trump administration has handled the agency. He found that the planned cuts would cement VOA’s failure to meet its legal requirements to provide reliable news coverage to people around the world. The judge pointed to several violations of the law, including the shutdown of required language services even though Congress had given clear orders to keep them running.

According to Fox News, Judge Lamberth wrote that the administration’s behavior would support civil contempt proceedings. He said their “disrespect” for court orders and failure to give required information about future layoffs had wasted judicial time and resources. However, he noted he would not start contempt proceedings on his own because the plaintiffs had not asked for it. The judge warned that his decision not to pursue contempt “should not be mistaken for lenience toward the defendants’ egregious erstwhile conduct.”

Lake admits VOA programming has major gaps

The ruling pointed out specific failures in how VOA has been run under Lake’s leadership. During sworn testimony, Lake admitted that VOA’s radio presence had shrunk a lot to just a single 30-minute daily program in Dari and Pashto languages. She also admitted she had not given much thought to whether Africa qualifies as a significant region under the law and said VOA produces no programming for South America.

Judge Lamberth accused Lake and her team of “thumbing their noses at Congress’s commands” and showing “brazen disinterest” in their legal duties. He rejected the government’s attempt to separate VOA staff from other USAGM employees in the reduction plans. The judge also criticized the administration for misleading the court by saying the layoffs were uncertain while evidence showed they were already happening.

Congress had given $875 million to USAGM for fiscal year 2025, with $260 million that must be spent by VOA. The Trump administration’s March executive order had called for cutting the agency down to the minimum presence required by law, which led to VOA stopping broadcasts for the first time in its 83-year history.

The judge’s order keeps VOA’s workforce in place through October 14. By that date, Lake must file a plan showing how the agency will bring back the legally required programming. Judge Lamberth, who was picked by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, has ruled against several of Lake’s actions at the agency before. The ongoing legal fights show bigger challenges the Trump administration faces with staffing and personnel decisions across federal agencies.