A federal judge said on Friday that he would temporarily halt the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle Voice of America, the government-funded international broadcaster whose prospective demise has alarmed advocates for press freedoms.
The judge, J. Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, made his comments from the bench during a hearing on a lawsuit filed by Voice of America journalists and their unions. The suit argues that the administration’s actions, like placing hundreds of journalists at the organization on paid leave, violated the journalists’ First Amendment rights.
Andrew G. Celli Jr., a lawyer for the journalists who brought the suit, said the judge had made clear that he would issue a temporary restraining order.
“This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a sharp rebuke to an administration that has shown utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy,” Mr. Celli said in a statement.
A temporary restraining order could be in effect for up to 21 days, Mr. Celli said. A separate lawsuit, brought by the director of Voice of America, Michael Abramowitz, is also pending.
Inquiries to the leadership of Voice of America, and its parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, were not immediately returned.
Voice of America, which was founded in 1942, provides news programming in 49 languages to dozens of countries around the world, including places, like China and Iran, where citizens have limited access to independent journalism. Voice of America had long been considered a key component of America’s soft-power efforts to promote democracy overseas.
The charter for Voice of America, which has a budget of roughly $270 million, was designed to protect its editorial independence. President Trump, however, has accused the broadcaster of having a left-wing bias, and he picked Kari Lake, a close ally and former right-wing TV anchor, to serve as a special adviser overseeing its parent agency.
On March 14, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that directed the Agency for Global Media to eliminate many of its functions. Employees have said they lost access to work email, and some of its radio frequencies in Asia and the Middle East have gone dark.
On Friday afternoon, all of the agency’s employees, who include the journalists at Voice of America, received a human resources email inviting them to resign their positions; the employees would receive pay and benefits through September. Ms. Lake called attention to the offer in a social media post, adding, “Have a great weekend.”
Since retaking office, Mr. Trump has pushed boundaries in his numerous efforts to undermine the American news media. The White House has prevented journalists from The Associated Press from attending certain events and begun handpicking which media outlets can participate in the press pool that covers presidential actions. Mr. Trump and his allies have also sued several news outlets.
Earlier this week, a federal judge in Washington temporarily blocked a similar effort by the Trump administration to close down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, another government-funded broadcaster that dates to the country’s Cold War efforts to counter Soviet propaganda.
Danielle Kaye contributed reporting.
