The Trump administration's attempt to shut down VOA has stalled for now. Thanks to judicial interventions and international pressure, employees are slowly returning to their jobs. However, the future is still uncertain
"The decision will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda," the White House said in a statement.
After Trump's decision in March, almost all of the affected media networks filed lawsuits.
This was followed by the reaction of US District Judge Royce Lambert. In late April, he issued a temporary restraining order against the executive order, saying it was arbitrary and likely exceeded the president's authority.
The Ministry of Justice appealed. On Thursday, an appeals court in Washington, which includes two judges appointed by Donald Trump, partially upheld the lower court's decision, allowing VOA to continue broadcasting while the appeals process is pending.
However, the latest court decision did not bring good news for other publicly funded media.
The ban on the use of funds already approved by Congress for Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Network remains in place while the court process continues, writes "The Guardian".
Unlike VOA, which is a federal institution, these media outlets are private non-profit organizations. Freezing funds has already forced them to make layoffs and reduce content.
Source: RFE/RL/The Guardian', title: 'Court halts Trump's decision: Shutdown of Voice of America prevented', pubdate: '2025-05-03 18:43:28', authors: authors, sections: "World", tags: "Donald Trump, Voice of America, USA, United States", access_level: access_level, article_type: "news", reader_type: reader_type }; (function (d, s) { var sf = d.createElement(s); sf.type = 'text/javascript'; sf.async = true; sf.src = (('https:' == d.location.protocol) ? 'https://d7d3cf2e81d293050033-3dfc0615b0fd7b49143049256703bfce.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com' : 'http://t.contentinsights.com') + '/stf.js'; var t = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(sf, t); })(document, 'script'); dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'Pageview', 'pagePath': url, 'pageTitle': 'Court halts Trump decision: Voice of America shutdown averted', 'pageContent': 'Voice of America (VoA), the 83-year-old budget-funded US media service aimed at foreign audiences, could be back on the air as early as next week after a federal appeals court temporarily suspended the executive order ordering its shutdown.
VoA was de facto shut down after Donald Trump signed an order on March 14 that abolished or reduced the operations of seven agencies, including the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
However, the US Department of Justice and the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced on Saturday (May 3) that the media outlet will be able to continue its work next week. "The American lawyers of RSF and VOA received an email from the Ministry of Justice on Saturday with the information that the teams of this cult American media will be able to continue their work in the coming hours," said RSF, as reported by AFP.In a message to RSF lawyers, the Ministry stated that during the day the accounts of 1.406 employees and contractors of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees several American media outlets including VOA, were reactivated. It added that all employees should now have access to the system. USAGM expects the program to return next week, writes Radio Free Europe (RSE). Trump's attempted shutdown In mid-March, the administration of US President Donald Trump sent journalists on forced leave and began firing reporters from the Voice of America and several other public media outlets. However, the US justice system opposed those measures. At the end of March, a federal judge in New York was the first to suspend the decision to suspend the activities of these public media, and a federal judge in Washington did the same in April. "We welcome this progress, but the unpredictable approach of the Trump administration requires caution. It is now necessary to ensure guarantees regarding the sustainability of the funding granted by the US Congress to all USAGM media," said RSF Director General Thibaut Brutin. According to him, the right to reliable information for tens of millions of listeners cannot depend on arbitrary political initiatives. Risk for more mediaVOA News ⚠️
Last night we received information from a lawyer that the Trump Administration USAGM will begin gradually returning us to work and restarting the VOA program starting Monday. This followed after the appellate court, following the appeal of the Trumps, decided to block only part of the decision of the federal... — Jovana Đurović (@dietrologia_) May 3, 2025
After Trump's decision in March, almost all of the affected media networks filed lawsuits.
This was followed by the reaction of US District Judge Royce Lambert. In late April, he issued a temporary restraining order against the executive order, saying it was arbitrary and likely exceeded the president's authority.
The Ministry of Justice appealed. On Thursday, an appeals court in Washington, which includes two judges appointed by Donald Trump, partially upheld the lower court's decision, allowing VOA to continue broadcasting while the appeals process is pending.
However, the latest court decision did not bring good news for other publicly funded media.
The ban on the use of funds already approved by Congress for Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Network remains in place while the court process continues, writes "The Guardian".
Unlike VOA, which is a federal institution, these media outlets are private non-profit organizations. Freezing funds has already forced them to make layoffs and reduce content.
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