A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to halt the operations of the U.S. international broadcaster, Voice of America, reports Rks News.
He even called it a “classic case of arbitrary decision-making.”
Judge James Paul Oetken blocked the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which runs Voice of America, from firing more than 1,200 journalists, engineers, and other staff members that it had dismissed two weeks ago after President Donald Trump ordered a reduction in its funding.
It is reported that Oetken issued a temporary restraining order preventing the agency from “any further efforts to terminate, reduce in force, or place on leave” employees or contractors, and from closing any offices or requiring employees abroad to return to the U.S., writes Euronews.
“This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a stern rebuke of the Trump administration’s utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy,” said attorney André G. Celli Jr.
After a coalition of Voice of America journalists, labor unions, and the nonprofit journalism group Reporters Without Borders filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week to block the cuts, Judge Oetken made this decision.
Ultimately, they seek for Voice of America to resume its broadcasting.
