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An federal court has determined that the effective shutdown of the VOA last year was unlawful and has commanded the return of hundreds of its reporters.

Judicial Mandate Sets One-Week Deadline

District Court Judge Royce Lamberth has given authorities one week to put the international broadcaster back on air.

Wartime Origins and Trump-Era Shutdown

The VOA was originally created in World War Two to counter Nazi disinformation.

Only a short time after returning to office as president, Donald Trump issued an presidential directive to shut down the broadcaster, which his administration claimed had political bias. The order also included networks such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, stating they should be phased out as much as legally possible.

Management Shake-Up and Widespread Dismissals

President Trump named Kari Lake to head the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent company that manages and finances the VOA and related networks.

Lake then sack over 85 percent of the agency's employees—over 1,000 staff at VOA alone—leaving just a small number of employees remaining.

Most of the dismissed staff have been on leave with pay since last year. This included Persian Service reporters who were temporarily|called back to work after Israel attacked Iran last June.

Judge’s Reasoning and Decision

Last week, Judge Lamberth ruled that Lake did not have the legal power to suspend the operations of the USAGM workforce, as she had not been approved by the US Senate.

In this week's ruling, the federal judge described the decision to sack the journalists as “arbitrary and capricious,”, adding that the government had failed to consider legislation that determine what languages and regions the VOA must serve.

“The government have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth stated in his opinion.

Reporters’ Legal Challenge and Reaction

Three VOA journalists had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. One of them, Patsy Widakuswara, expressed being deeply grateful for the judge's decision.

“We hope the American people will keep support our mission to produce factual reporting, not biased messaging,” she said to the Associated Press.

Uncertain Future and Wider Context

It is not clear if Lake's nominated successor, Sarah Rogers—whose appointment needs Senate confirmation—will challenge the ruling.

Prior to its shutdown, the VOA broadcast TV, radio, and digital content in almost 50 languages.

Trump's criticisms of the VOA are part of his wider criticism of the US media, which research indicates American news consumers view as highly polarised.