Tsering Dhundup

DHARAMSHALA, April, 23: U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth has ordered the immediate funding restoration of Voice of America (VOA) and related government-funded news services, ruling that recent drastic cuts likely violated both federal law and the Constitution.

The preliminary order, issued Tuesday, April 22, comes after funding cuts to several government-supported news organisations that resulted in all VOA employees being placed on administrative leave and more than three-quarters of Radio Free Asia staff temporarily losing their positions.

Judge Lamberth, directed that VOA employees and contractors must be reinstated to their positions and that the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) must distribute congressionally allocated funding to RFA and other affected news organisations.

“They took immediate and drastic action to slash USAGM, without considering its statutorily or constitutionally required functions as required by the plain language of the [executive order], and without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers around the world,” Lamberth wrote in his order. “It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here.”

The court found the administration’s actions particularly concerning because they silenced VOA for the first time in its 80-year history, depriving hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide of a reliable news source in regions lacking free press. The judge also noted that the cuts put overseas correspondents at risk of deportation to their home countries.

According to Lamberth, the administration provided “virtually no justification” for what he described as “draconian cuts” that appeared to follow President Donald Trump’s March 14 executive order requiring significant scaling back of the agency. However, the judge determined the cuts were so severe they likely violated even Trump’s directive that the programs continue to operate at legally required minimum service levels.

RFA President Bay Fang welcomed the court’s decision, stating, “We welcome the court’s decision that USAGM must continue to provide funding to Radio Free Asia as intended by Congress. It is now in USAGM’s hands to release the congressional funding to Radio Free Asia. While we wish to resume operations as before, we need timely and regular funding to do so.”