A federal judge has blocked Kari Lake’s attempt to fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz.
Lake has been working to cut staff at the agency, but Abramowitz argued that he could only be removed through an advisory board requiring Senate confirmation, The Washington Post reported. He has been on paid leave since March.
President Donald Trump dismissed all board members in January, but replacements have not yet been appointed. Trump placed Lake in charge of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, though she currently holds the role on an interim basis.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, sided with Abramowitz.
“To the extent the Board’s current lack of quorum institutes a practical barrier to removing Abramowitz, the Broadcast Act gives the President a straightforward remedy: replacing the removed members,” Lamberth wrote, according to CNN.
ProPublica reported that Abramowitz earned about $380,000 in 2024.
Lake vowed to challenge the ruling. “We fully intend to appeal this absurd ruling,” she said in a statement. “Elections have consequences, and President Trump runs the executive branch. I have confidence that the Constitution will eventually be enforced, even if not by Judge Lamberth and other radical district judges.”
On August 1, Abramowitz was told by John Zadrozny, a senior adviser at the USAGM, that he would be fired after refusing a position managing a broadcasting station in North Carolina. Lake has sought to reduce staff at VOA and its parent agency, but Abramowitz has filed lawsuits to stop her. Lamberth has criticized her downsizing efforts, saying they were “verging on contempt.”
Reports stretching back to 2001 have raised questions about VOA’s ties to China, with Mandarin service managers allegedly meeting at the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., and one VOA worker reportedly pledging support for the CCP.
Lake has continued to push back. “Of course I’ve got a judge here in Washington, D.C. — I’ve got five cases against me as I try to scale this monster, this beast back and rightsize it,” she said. “I mean, I’ve got a judge who’s threatening me with contempt of court, throwing me in prison, if I don’t produce more of the propaganda that he wants me to produce.”
