Background: Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens as then-Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks at a campaign rally at the Findlay Toyota Arena Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci). Inset: Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz (U.S. Agency for Global Media).
The Trump administration illegally fired the head of Voice of America (VOA) as part of a massive teardown of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a federal appeals court has affirmed.
In a unanimous 20-page order on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the USAGM could not oust VOA director Michael Abramowitz without the approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB). The board was established to provide guidance to — and oversight of — the USAGM, with one of its key roles being to appoint or remove heads of the agency's networks, including VOA; its role was fortified by legislation passed during Joe Biden's presidency, but upon the start of his second term in 2025, President Donald Trump fired six of the seven members of the advisory board, and USAGM leaders — including senior adviser Kari Lake — placed Abramowitz and approximately 1,300 other Voice of America employees on "indefinite administrative leave."
Abramowitz, who assumed the directorship in 2024, sued over his termination, and U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found his argument convincing. The Ronald Reagan appointee in August 2025 barred the new Trump administration from firing Abramowitz and three VOA journalists.
Though USAGM appealed, the three-judge appellate panel signaled Tuesday that the case was relatively straightforward. Speaking of the statute Congress enacted in creating the oversight board, the appellate court found that USAGM leaders "ignored" it when they "attempted unilaterally to fire" Abramowitz.
The Trump administration contended that Abramowitz needed to take his complaint to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) under the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) in a manner consistent with other government employees. But U.S. Circuit Judge Nina Pillard, writing the opinion of the appellate court, agreed with the district judge that this was not a normal workplace dispute, but rather one about freedom of the press.
She pointed to recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent involving Trump to emphasize that his executive authority was not being challenged. Trump still has control over Abramowitz's position, she wrote, "albeit more indirectly than" the Trump administration "would like."
"As a practical matter, it is true that the President might face delay if he had to fire and replace a majority of the Board to effectuate his removal decision," the opinion continued, adding that any such "delay is attributable" to the Constitution, which provides for certain procedures such as Senate confirmations and "collective appointments."
In response to the appellate court's decision, Abramowitz told Bloomberg News he was "gratified by this result" and looked forward "to getting back to the important work Voice of America does worldwide on behalf of the American people."
"My lawyers and I are carefully studying the decision to determine next steps," he added. "But there is no longer any reason for the government to prevent me from doing the job for which I was legally installed on a bipartisan basis more than two years ago."
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