A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Kari Lake and other Trump administration officials unlawfully attempted to fire Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz, upholding a lower court decision that blocked his removal without approval from an independent oversight board.
The unanimous ruling marked another legal setback for the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the government-funded international broadcaster. It also preserved a key safeguard intended to shield VOA’s leadership from political interference.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that Lake, who served as a senior adviser to the agency’s acting CEO, and other agency officials violated federal law when they attempted to remove Abramowitz in August 2025 after he refused reassignment to another position in Greenville, N.C.
Under a law enacted in 2021, the director of VOA cannot be removed without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board. President Donald Trump dismissed six of the board’s seven members after returning to office, leaving it unable to approve Abramowitz’s firing.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Cornelia Pillard rejected the administration’s argument that the removal restrictions were unconstitutional, describing the law as a “durable barrier against any breach of the firewall protecting the journalistic integrity of Voice of America and the affiliate networks.”
The ruling comes amid a prolonged legal battle over the future of VOA, which has faced sweeping staffing cuts and disruptions to its broadcasting operations since Trump ordered the agency’s functions sharply reduced in March 2025. Abramowitz and approximately 1,300 other VOA employees were placed on indefinite administrative leave. Tuesday’s decision addressed his removal but left the broader fight over the broadcaster’s future unresolved.
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