A federal judge in New York City granted a temporary restraining order on Friday to several Voice of America journalists attempting to stop the Trump administration from shutting down the international broadcaster on the grounds that the move is unlawful and unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, as the judge issued his order blocking the administration from dismantling VOA, the network’s employees suddenly received an email from the Office of Human Resources customer service team offering an opportunity to reapply to the administration’s “Fork in the Road” deferred resignation program. The deadline for the program, which was supposed to entice federal workers to voluntarily quit and accept a buyout as part of DOGE’s efforts to slash spending, had initially been February 12.
US District Court Judge J. Paul Oetken issued the temporary restraining order to prevent any further administration efforts to terminate VOA.
Andrew G. Celli Jr., an attorney for the VOA journalists who filed suit, said “This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a sharp rebuke to an Administration that has shown utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy.”
“As part of the broader workforce reforms initiated by President Trump, the federal government is undergoing significant restructuring to enhance efficiency, accountability, and performance. These changes are designed to build a more effective, high-performing federal workforce,” the email, which was sent at 2:27 pm ET on Friday, read.
“In alignment with these reforms, the agency is offering another opportunity for employees to voluntarily transition out of federal service through the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). This program will be available from March 28 through April 9, 2025,” the email, which The Independent reviewed, continued. “Employees who choose to participate in the DRP will retain full pay and benefits and will be exempt from in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025, unless they choose to depart earlier.”
The judge’s order temporarily prevents the administration from moving forward with firing hundreds of VOA contractors who were set to be terminated on Monday. Additionally, the block would stop the 900 employees placed on indefinite leave from being targeted for a reduction in force for the time being. The restraining order would likely be in effect for three weeks.
After a hearing on Friday, VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara said the judge had indicated he would rule in the network’s favor. At the same time, she told The Independent she wasn’t quite sure what the renewed buyout offer meant for the future of the network.
“I don’t know what the Fork in the Road email today means, or Kari Lake’s intention with VOA moving forward,” she said. “My colleagues and I are focused on fighting for our legal rights to report and broadcast as mandated by Congress, and in defense of our editorial independence under the VOA charter.”
Voice of America’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman, who was sidelined last month by the administration for social media posts that were supposedly anti-Trump, also tweeted that Lake had urged staffers to check their emails for “another one of those ‘fork in the road offers’” that would give employees 12 days to take a buyout through September.
Just a day earlier, the Trump administration backed down in a suit filed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, agreeing to withdraw a grant termination and allowing the broadcaster to continue to receive federal funds. RFE/RL and Voice of America are both overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
A similar lawsuit filed by VOA director Michael Abramowitz against the administration is still pending. A representative for the USAGM and Lake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the USAGM to be eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” Kari Lake, his senior adviser to the agency, immediately suspended the entire VOA workforce and stated that contractors would be fired effective at the end of the month. She also pulled the funding from the nonprofit international broadcasters backed by the USAGM, including RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia.
“The US Agency for Global media will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview and shed everything that is not statutorily required,” Lake wrote at the time. “I fully support the President’s executive order. Waste, fraud, and abuse run rampant in this agency and American taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund it.”
In their lawsuit against Lake and the Trump administration, six VOA journalists – which include VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara and Press Freedom editor Jessica Jerreat – said the “wholesale dismantling of USAGM” was a “direct violation of the law” and violated the agency’s independence and integrity. In addition to the Voice of America staffers, the suit was joined by several employee unions and press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. Notably, just days before Trump ordered USAGM to be dismantled, he bristled at a question asked by Widakuswara about his proposal to clear out Gaza of all Palestinians.
“Defendants have also acted contrary to Congress’s express statutory requirement that USAGM exist as an independent news agency to present a reliable and objective news source to the world,” the complaint added. “Defendants have violated all of these laws by closing USAGM and ceasing altogether the business of gathering and disseminating news and opinion via VOA and its sister service Radio y Televisión Martí, as well as its grantee-affiliates RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN. Defendants’ actions are unconstitutional and unlawful; they must cease immediately.”
More than 900 full-time network employees were indefinitely suspended earlier this month, while 550 contractors were told their jobs would be terminated on March 31. In addition, the majority of staff at USAGM were placed on indefinite leave.
Since Lake’s sweeping order that essentially shut down VOA on March 15, the radio network – which boasted a global audience of 360 million – has been off the air, and no new stories have been published on its website. The silencing of the 80-year-old broadcaster has been celebrated by authoritarian regimes across the globe, which the VOA lawsuit noted.
“In the world at large, the vacuum left by Defendants pulling the plug on USAGM’s news networks is being filled by propagandists whose messages will monopolize global airwaves, while VOA” and other USAGM entities “are silenced,” the complaint stated.
The plaintiffs also pointed out that the president – who has long been critical of Voice of America – had previously tried to force the network to push a pro-Trump message during his first administration.
“Sadly, if history teaches lessons, these latest abuses come as little surprise. In 2020, the first Trump Administration—unhappy with the news coverage being disseminated by USAGM networks worldwide—sought to chill journalists in their newsgathering and expression and tear down the firewall insulating USAGM and its networks from partisan overreach,” the complaint noted. “That effort was stopped by a federal District Judge’s grant of a preliminary injunction. Today, the second Trump Administration has taken a chainsaw to the agency as a whole in an attempt to shutter it completely. The same judicial response—swift and definitive—is required.”
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