Politics
NEW: Appeals Court Delivers MASSIVE Blow To Activist Judges
The Trump Administration secured a massive legal victory with far-reaching implications on Saturday, when the D.C. Court of Appeals issued a ruling that could grant the administration relief in several ongoing cases.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Saturday granted a stay on a lower court’s order that had mandated the reinstatement of over 1,000 Voice of America (VOA) employees who had been let go by the Trump Administration, which has moved to largely gut United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). A lower court judge had previously ordered the reinstatement of all employees and a full return to previous VOA operating standards.
“This is a huge victory for President Trump and his Article II powers granted in the United States Constitution. It’s also a victory for US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and VOA,” Kari Lake, who has been serving as a senior advisor to the USAGM for the Trump Administration, told Fox News after Saturday’s ruling was handed down.
The decision will allow the administration to continue its planned cuts and restructuring to the USAGM, including its subsidiaries like the VOA and Radio Free Europe.
“We are eager to accomplish President Trump’s America First agenda which has always been to modernize and make our government efficient while cutting waste, fraud, and abuse,” Lake said. “Now that we have a favorable ruling in the appeals court, we look forward to accomplishing the plan we’ve always had; to bring VOA into the 21st century.”
The court’s 2-1 ruling could have far-reaching implications for the dozens of legal challenges to the president’s authority launched by low-level federal judges across the country, as the majority emphasized the judiciary’s deference to executive authority in matters concerning federal employment and contractual decisions.
The court noted that the lower court likely lacked jurisdiction to interfere with the executive branch’s personnel and funding decisions, particularly regarding grant agreements with non-federal entities such as Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
Saturday’s ruling follows Trump’s March 14 executive order, which aimed to greatly scale back USAGM operations. “Voice of America has been out of step with America for years. It serves as the Voice for Radical America and has pushed divisive propaganda for years now,” a senior White House official told Fox News at the time.
The move led to the termination of 1,300 VOA employees, as well as a revocation of numerous contracts, effectively grinding the outlet’s work to a halt. Judge Royce Lambert, a Reagan appointee, soon issued a ruling attempting to mandate the Trump Administration to allow said employees to return to work.
“Unfortunately, the frivolous litigation actually stalled the ability to streamline archaic practices and redundant programs at VOA,” Lake said. “The use of lawfare hurt the agency and its employees more than it helped.”
The VOA case encompasses the core issue at the heart of the Trump Administration’s with activist judges, many of whom have issued rulings that directly contradict the president’s authority. Saturday’s ruling paved the way for a potentially definitive ruling from the Supreme Court on lower courts’ ability to dictate personnel and funding policy to the executive branch.
“Majority rules lower court had no jurisdiction, which means grantees must go to different court to litigate a contract dispute and employees must use the administrative personnel dispute process to fight about being fired,” Judicial Watch founder Tom Fitton posted on X after the ruling was handed down. “If upheld, this push back on judicial activism could largely destroy the Left’s judicial coup against Trump’s effort to restore political control of the administrative state.”
