A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut funding to Voice of America, a US international broadcaster that has been in operation since 1942. The move came after Trump ordered the agency responsible for running VOA to slash its funding as part of his campaign to reduce government spending and align it with his political agenda.
The judge, James Paul Oetken, ruled that the Trump administration’s approach was “arbitrary and capricious” and blocked the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) from firing over 1,200 employees or contractors. The agency had previously sidetracked these staff members in response to the funding cuts.
Oetken issued a temporary restraining order barring the USAGM from further terminating employees or contractors, closing offices, or requiring overseas employees to return to the US. He also blocked the agency from terminating grant funding for other broadcast outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
The decision came after a coalition of VOA journalists, labour unions, and the nonprofit journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders sued the Trump administration to block the cuts. The plaintiffs argued that the shutdown violated a court’s finding during Trump’s first term that VOA journalists have a free-speech firewall protecting them from White House interference.
The Trump administration had accused VOA of having a “leftist bias” and failing to project “pro-American” values, despite being mandated by Congress to serve as a non-partisan news organization. However, the judge called the move a “classic case of arbitrary and capricious decision making”.
This ruling is seen as a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, with the plaintiffs’ lawyer saying it was a “decisive rebuke” to the Trump administration’s approach.
Source: https://www.euronews.com/2025/03/29/turkey-arrests-swedish-journalist-over-insulting-the-president-and-terrorism