U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America
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He declared all of Lake's actions over the past year to be null and void, including the layoffs of more than 1,000 journalists and staffers. (Image credit: Tom Brenner)
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Media U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America March 8, 2026 3:04 AM ET David Folkenflik Kari Lake, senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, departs following a House Committee on House Administration hearing on federal elections on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Washington. Tom Brenner/AP hide caption toggle caption Tom Brenner/AP A federal judge overseeing a raft of legal challenges to the Trump administration's drive to dismantle the Voice of America ruled Saturday evening that Kari Lake had acted unlawfully in running the network's parent agency. "Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution," U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in his ruling . He declared all of Lake's actions over the past year to be null and void. That includes the layoffs of more than 1,000 journalists and staffers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the Voice of America. NPR first reported in depth last August on questions about the legality of her taking on the title and powers of the agency's self-declared acting chief executive. Media Is Kari Lake a CEO? Her agency said so. The law suggests not The judge's ruling represents an absolute rebuke to the Trump White House and especially to Lake and her inner circle. It follows a series of courtroom exchanges in which Lamberth has found the government's arguments that Congress had no role to play in the future of the agency and the network unconvincing and called Lake's credibility into question from the bench. Last summer he threatened Lake with contempt of court. Lake told NPR Saturday night that she would appeal the ruling from Lamberth, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan. "The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government," she wrote. "An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM. Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist ruli...
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