U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake lost her lawsuit on Aug. 28 over removing Voice of America board member Michael Abramowitz.
In a one-page decision, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Abramowitz is to retain his role on the board.
Abramowitz was terminated this month as Voice of America director after refusing a reassignment to be the chief management officer at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in Greenville, North Carolina.
“Right in the middle of litigation about Defendants’ willingness to follow the law, they are firing Director Abramowitz for refusing to accept a reassignment because he insisted that Defendants follow the law,” Abramowitz’s lawyer, William Schultz, wrote in an Aug. 4 filing.
“Defendants have no authority to take this action. … Congress expressly provided that the ‘head of Voice of America … may only be … removed if such action has been approved by a majority vote of the [International Broadcasting] Advisory Board.'”
Abramowitz was one of the about 640 employees at Voice of America and the Agency for Global Media who were fired as the Trump administration has looked to shutter those two entities as part of an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in March to reduce the federal bureaucracy.
“Today, we took decisive action to effectuate President Trump’s agenda to shrink the out-of-control federal bureaucracy,” Lake said in a statement on June 20.
“Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at [U.S. Agency for Global Media] and Voice of America, part of a long-overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy. For decades, American taxpayers have been forced to bankroll an agency that’s been riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste. That ends now.”
There has been an elimination of almost 1,400 positions, or an 85 percent reduction in the workforce, since March. There are currently a total of 250 roles at the Agency for Global Media, VOA, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
“The agency now operates near the statutory minimum; lean and focused. This is a clear example of responsible government, cutting waste, restoring accountability, and delivering on the promise to put American taxpayers first,” Lake said in the June statement. “I look forward to working with Congress and the Department of State to make sure the future of telling America’s story is modernized, effective, and aligns with America’s foreign policy.”
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