The Washington Court of Appeals on May 3 approved a stay of the first-instance ruling in the case involving Voice of America (VOA) journalists, temporarily blocking the order that required their reinstatement and continued funding for the international broadcaster, funded by the United States.
Earlier in the day, the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders and a VOA journalist said that the US Department of Justice had announced that this media outlet could resume operations next week.
Kari Lake, the senior adviser to President Donald Trump's administration for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) - which oversees the Voice of America -, called the Appeals Court's decision a "major victory" for the US administration.
VOA, which is a US state-funded broadcaster, has an international audience and has been shut down since Trump ordered the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA and other broadcasters – including Radio Free Europe – and six other federal agencies to reduce their work to the minimum required by law.
"A Justice Department attorney has emailed our attorney, David Seide, to inform him that USAGM expects VOA staff to be able to begin a 'phased return' to work and resume broadcasting next week," VOA journalist Steve Herman said in a post on X earlier Saturday.
The non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders said that their lawyers, along with those of Voice of America, had been notified by the Justice Department that the broadcaster's employees would be allowed to return to work.
On March 21, VOA filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the administration's moves to shut down the broadcaster were illegal.
Subsequently, USAGM laid off more than 1,000 employees and terminated the contracts of about 600 associates, forcing VOA to cease broadcasting for the first time since its founding in 1942.
Radio Free Europe has also filed a lawsuit against USAGM, to "avoid irreparable harm" to the broadcaster due to the suspension of the grant - approved by Congress - as part of USAGM's efforts to cut off funding to REL.
On May 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a ruling temporarily suspending prior court rulings and allowing the Trump administration to temporarily halt funding for REL and other broadcasters.
This decision, according to the Appeals Court judges, was made in order to be able to review the requests submitted by the Department of Justice on behalf of USAGM.
The Appeals Court decision came days after a federal judge ordered USAGM to release funds to REL for the month of April.
USAGM is an independent government agency that oversees REL, Voice of America, and other U.S.-funded broadcasters, which together broadcast news and information in nearly 50 languages to an estimated 361 million people each week. REL (A2 Televizion)
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