On Wednesday, a federal court essentially said that the Trump administration had disregarded his directives to resume Voice of America’s activities and offer a comprehensive explanation of its actions regarding the government-run news organization that distributes news to other nations.
The administration has until August 13 to explain how it plans to restore VOA’s functionality, according to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia. Since March, the World War II-era store has been mostly closed.
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According to Lamberth, the government must demonstrate its use of the $260 million that Congress has approved for VOA’s operations this year.
In June, Trump’s adviser to lead the federal news agency, Kari Lake, reported that 85% of VOA staff members and its supervisors at the U.S. Agency for Global Media had lost their positions. She referred to it as a long-overdue attempt to eliminate an unaccountable, bloated bureaucracy.
According to Lamberth, there is a procedure for removing already granted funding, and Congress must vote on it, just as it did recently for financing for PBS and NPR. But that hasn’t happened here, he said.
He chastised the government for giving evasive responses and leaving out important details when requested in earlier court orders.
Without any justification, the court is forced to draw the conclusion that the defendants are merely attempting to close the fiscal year without allocating the funds that Congress provided to the intended uses, Lamberth concluded. Waste is the legal word for that.
The White House did not immediately comment.
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For the AP, David Bauder writes on the relationship between entertainment and media. He can be followed at and.
