The US court suspends closure of Voice of America

On Friday, March 28, a federal judge temporarily stayed the liquidation of Voice of America.

The NYT writes about this.

Judge J. Paul Oetken of the US District Court in Manhattan made the decision after a court hearing on a lawsuit filed the day before by Voice of America journalists and their unions.

The lawsuit alleged that the administrationʼs actions, namely sending hundreds of employees on paid leave, violated journalistsʼ rights as enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

This decision is temporary and not final — legal proceedings will continue.

What preceded

On March 14, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reduce the activities of seven government agencies, including USAGM. It is in charge of foreign broadcasting and oversees, in particular, the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It was then announced that the grant approved by the US Congress that finances the activities of these media outlets would be terminated.

A few days later, Radio Liberty announced that the United States had stopped funding the publication. All Voice of America employees were placed on administrative leave. This includes more than 1,300 journalists, producers, and support staff.

Both Voice of America and Radio Liberty filed a lawsuit against this decision. As for the latter, the court first temporarily stopped the liquidation and ordered the broadcaster to pay part of the grant. And already on March 27, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) decided to withdraw its decision to cancel the grant. This was based on the decision of the Federal District Court in Washington, which sided with the broadcaster.

USAGM reserves the right to cancel funding in the future. The remaining portion of the grant is calculated through September 30, 2025.

• Earlier, American billionaire and head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk called for the closure of Radio Liberty and Voice of America. At the time, he said that no one listens to Radio Liberty and Voice of America, and called these media outlets “crazy left-wing radicals who talk to themselves, burning through a billion dollars of US taxpayer money every year”. The US government has historically portrayed Voice of America as a counterweight to foreign propaganda and a model of free, honest, and truthful news coverage.

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