Judge orders Voice of America be put back together again. What are the chances that will happen?

FILE This is the Voice of America building in Washington D.C., on May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) 2026-03-21T04:01:47Z NEW YORK (AP) — In a strongly worded decision this week , a federal judge ordered that the Voice of America — its mission to provide news for countries around the world largely shut down for the past year by the Trump administration — come roaring back to life. Whether or not that actually happens is anybody’s guess. The government filed notice Thursday to appeal U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s order two days earlier to put hundreds of VOA employees who have been on paid leave the past year back to work. Lamberth had ruled on March 7 that Kari Lake, who was President Donald Trump’s choice to oversee the bureaucratic parent U.S. Agency for Global Media, didn’t have the authority to reduce VOA to a skeleton. The Voice of America was established as a news source in World War II, beaming reports to many countries that had no tradition of a free press. Before Trump took office again last year, Voice of America was operating in 49 different languages, heard by an estimated 362 million people. Trump’s team contended that government-run news sources, which also include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were an example of bloated government and that they wanted news reporting more favorable to the current administration. With a greatly reduced staff, it currently operates in Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea and in countries with a large population of Kurds. Lamberth, in his decision, said Lake had “repeatedly thumbed her nose” at laws mandating VOA’s operation. Time to turn the page at VOA? VOA director Michael Abramowitz said legislators in both parties understand the need for a strong operation and have set aside enough funding for the job to be done. “It is time for all parties to come together and work to rebuild and strengthen the agency,” he said. Don’t expect that to happen soon. “President Trump was elected to eliminate

原文链接: AP News