Federal Judge Voids Actions Kari Lake Took as Voice of America CEO

Those actions included a series of job cuts Lake instituted last year.

Kari Lake, President Donald Trump's choice to lead Voice of America, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 21, 2025. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

A federal judge ruled on March 7 that Kari Lake’s leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media throughout much of 2025, including her implementation of layoffs at its Voice of America unit, violated federal law.

Voice of America journalists, a union representing federal workers, and others sued Lake, arguing that her appointment as acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media and her efforts to lay off employees violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the appointments clause of the Constitution.