A federal judge on Saturday concluded that Kari Lake’s exercise of leadership authority at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for much of 2025 violated federal law, and he declared void a broad set of her actions aimed at cutting staff and halting operations at Voice of America (VOA).
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs that included VOA journalists and a union representing federal employees. The plaintiffs argued that Lake’s appointment as acting CEO and the moves she made while in that role breached the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Central to the court’s decision was the finding that Lake was not eligible to serve as acting CEO because she was not an employee of USAGM at the time former CEO Amanda Bennett resigned in January 2025, and she had not previously been confirmed by the Senate to any other federal position. The court record shows Lake officially joined USAGM in March 2025 as a senior adviser, while a November 21 news release from the agency described her as deputy CEO.
Judge Lamberth also dismissed the administration’s contention that Lake could lawfully exercise CEO authority by delegation from a previous acting CEO, Victor Morales. With that argument rejected, the judge applied the Vacancies Act standard that actions taken by someone not lawfully occupying a vacant office "shall have no force or effect" and are not subject to ratification.
That legal standard places the status of several of Lake’s decisions in jeopardy, most notably a reduction-in-force affecting hundreds of employees that remains paused by court order. In his ruling, Lamberth wrote: "As a consequence, any actions taken by Lake during her asserted tenure as acting CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025...are void."
The decision represents another setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back operations at multiple government bodies. It is at least the third time Judge Lamberth has ruled against administration plans involving Voice of America. Earlier rulings in April and September had halted proposals that would have put many VOA staff out of work, although the April order was subsequently overturned by an appeals court.
Voice of America, historically a broad international broadcaster, had been reduced under the administration’s actions from broadcasts in 49 languages reaching 420 million people across more than 100 countries to programming in four languages, according to material in the case record. The court’s decision threatens the legal standing of the measures that led to those operational contractions.
Lake said she would appeal Lamberth’s decision. In a statement she asserted: "Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings - and this case is no different." Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately return requests for comment.
The ruling underscores the legal limits on who may occupy acting federal offices and the consequences when those limits are not observed. For USAGM and VOA staff, the order keeps in place judicial oversight over the suspended personnel actions and leaves in place unresolved questions about the validity of the administration’s prior organizational changes.