Trump's plans to clarify VoA

On Thursday, a Federal Court of Justice plunged the hopes of journalists and free-press interest representative groups who wanted to throw the almost complete disassembly of Voice of America through the Trump White House.

The administration, led by the senior consultant Kari Lake, drove almost the entire workforce. It has released hundreds of contract employees and judged permanent employees for an indefinite period, citing An executive order from March 14th by Trump.

Last month, The high -ranking judge Royce C. Lamberth of the US district court ordered Lake and the Voice of America's Federal Parent, the US agency for global media to bring back employees and put the network into operation, as the Congress is intended by legal dispute. He also decided that the administration of Radio Free Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks had to restore and described their dismemberment as “arbitrary and moody”.

“There is not only the lack of a” justified analysis “of the accused, there is no analysis at all,” wrote Lamberth.

At the beginning of this month, a Court of Justice temporarily frozen Lamberth's decision with a 2-to-1 margin because it takes time to check the full advantages of the case. There has not yet been a decision about the full case.

In the meantime, however, the lake has plunged into the ranks of the workforce again, and hundreds of contract employees released a second time last weekend. The Voice of America website Hasn't posted new stories for more than two months.

On Thursday, the complete court of appeal made it clear that it would not intervene at least for the time being.

“We are destroyed and worried that this decision could lead to further disadvantageous reactions to the administration,” says Patsy Widakuswara, the senior plaintiff and office of the White House for Voice of America, NPR. “But our day in court is not over yet, and we are obliged to fight until we can return to our prescribed law, to reduce factual, balanced and comprehensive messages.”

Lake did not answer a request for comments.

A effort to cut “frivolous expenses”

What the future is available for the network and its sister radio operator remains unclear.

According to the instructions of the Lake, the agency killed a rental agreement for a new headquarters, canceled contracts for the reporting of Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France press services and concluded a contract to conclude reporting from the right-wing extremist and Pro-Trump One America News Network.

Lamberth's requirement that the lake and the agency comply with the law remains in force. Administrative officers claim that they do exactly that – even if they hold back money from VOA and its sister networks that the congress has provided.

Trump's Executive Order of Trump asked the US agency for global media and several other institutions to “eliminate the maximum extent in accordance with the applicable law”. In the order it was also stated that these organizations should “reduce the performance of their legal functions and the associated personnel to the legally required minimum prehandal and function:”

The White House quoted the move as part of a more comprehensive efforts to waste the waste of the government in “careless expenses that do not be aligned with the American values ​​or to lower the needs of the American people”.

In addition to Widakuswara, the plaintiffs in the VoA director Michael Abramowitz and at least an unnamed US agency for global media employees belong. The workforce, which was reduced to a token presence, was checked between the various court certificates. The plaintiffs say that the administration violated clear congress laws and the protection of the constitution of freedom of speech.

“With today's decision, I am concerned that Usagm will quickly deal with further reductions,” Abramowitz wrote in a letter to the employees on Thursday. “Please be sure that we check our legal options.”

According to three employees of the US agency for global media, the Lake seems to lead the agency for a joke and to reduce America's voice to a handful of foreign language services, including mandarin for China, Farsi for Iran as well as Dari and Passto for Afghanistan. (People who spoke were granted anonymity to characterize the development of development in the agency in view of the retaliation.)

A lifeline for a transmitter

The Voice of America was founded in World War II to offer reliable news in places that are controlled by the Nazis and to endure the life of the life of the democratic allied rule.

Taken together, VoA and his four sister networks to reach 420 million people in 63 languages ​​and more than 100 countries per week according to the US agency for global media. They are fully financed by the US government.

The mission of the networks is to provide news reporting and cultural programming in places where a free press is threatened or does not exist. They are also designed as a form of soft diplomacy and modeling independent journalism, which includes dissent from government policy.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which was founded this week at the beginning of the Cold War secured millions of dollars from the European Union As a temporary lifeline that is waiting for his congress payments for the month of May. The government owes it to 75 million US dollars for the rest of the year as part of the law passed by the congress. The network, which a government court ordered for payment, has already dealt on vacation and reduced programming because it is waiting for the funds.

What's next for VoA?

In her public rhetoric, mainly on social media and right -wing media appearances, Lake has asked between the promise to restore the networks in their historical mission and to promise to tear them down.

In December, the then elected President Trump said that he would appoint the lake to run the Voice of America. Although he has no legal authority to do so. It called the network “an important international media outlet that devoted itself to promoting the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people around the world and promoting democracy and truth”.

A few days after Trump's inauguration, Lake said that she wanted to make sure that the Voice of America “tells American history exactly and fairly”.

“We don't want VOA News messages from Trump to be of theangement syndrome, and we don't want it to be Trump TV,” tweeted Lake.

In March, a few days after Trump's executive order, she called the network “relentlessly”.

In April Lake Voice of America called “anti -American propaganda” and said she “had” she back “.

At the beginning of May, Lake welcomed the judgment of the appellate committee. “Big victory,” she posted on social media. “It turns out that the judge of the district court cannot lead the agency as he wanted it.”

The full appellate court allowed the lake to continue on Thursday, at least for the moment.

In one case with some parallels, a federal judge on Monday the takeover of the US peace institute By the budget of Doge initiative of the White House. The same judge in March rejected To issue a temporary decision that blocks the move by Doge's employees and reserves their right to merit.