A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Kari Lake and other Trump administration officials illegally fired Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz, upholding a permanent injunction that blocks his removal without approval from an independent oversight board.
The unanimous November 10, 2026, decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the administration's argument that federal protections governing the broadcaster's leadership violated the president's constitutional authority. Government lawyers acknowledged that Abramowitz's removal violated the law but argued that Congress lacked the power to impose the restriction.
Abramowitz was targeted for removal in July 2025 after officials at the U.S. Agency for Global Media ordered him to accept a reassignment from Voice of America director to chief management officer in Greenville, North Carolina. The notice warned that refusing the transfer would cost him his position.
After Abramowitz declined, officials sent him an August 1 letter informing him that they had decided to remove him.
Federal law requires approval from a majority of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board before the director of Voice of America can be removed. President Donald Trump had fired six of the board's seven members after taking office in January 2025, leaving it unable to authorize the dismissal.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth blocked Abramowitz's removal in August 2025, finding that agency officials had violated the law. The administration appealed, arguing that the approval requirement improperly restricted Trump's authority over executive branch officials.
Writing for the three-judge appellate panel, Judge Cornelia Pillard found that Congress had constitutional authority to give the independent board final control over the hiring and firing of Voice of America's leadership.
The judges determined that Trump retained presidential oversight because he could dismiss the board's members. Congress could require their approval before the agency removed a network director, even if that process delayed the president's preferred personnel decisions.
Congress strengthened the board's authority in 2021 after concerns about political interference in federally funded international broadcasting. The changes followed controversy over the removal of several network leaders under former agency chief Michael Pack in 2020.
The appeals court also allowed Abramowitz to pursue his challenge directly in federal court rather than through the federal employee appeals system. The judges found that a lengthy administrative process could allow officials to interfere with the broadcaster's leadership before the dispute was resolved, undermining the protections Congress enacted to preserve its journalistic independence.
Lake, who served as senior adviser to the agency's acting chief executive, helped carry out Trump's broader effort to reduce Voice of America's operations. Following a March 2025 executive order, agency officials placed Abramowitz and approximately 1,300 other employees on indefinite administrative leave.
Voice of America, established during World War II, broadcasts news to international audiences under a congressional mandate requiring accurate, objective and comprehensive reporting.
Abramowitz welcomed the appellate decision and expressed his desire to return to his position, calling for the restoration of Voice of America's staff and programming.
The ruling keeps the injunction protecting his position in force while separate federal lawsuits challenge the administration's reductions to the broadcaster's workforce and operations.
