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Democracy & Rule of Law · Report · File No. 261110-146

Appeals court rules Kari Lake could not fire Voice of America director on her own

A federal appeals panel said only the agency's advisory board can remove Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz. The ruling limits a Trump appointee's attempt to fire a news chief without the board's approval.

By the Investigations Desk · · 2 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

My clippings
Kari Lake
Kari Lake. Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot remove Michael Abramowitz as director of Voice of America without approval from its advisory board. The three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit upheld a permanent order from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth that bars his removal without a majority vote of the board 1.

Voice of America is the government-funded news service that broadcasts around the world. The Trump administration had argued that Kari Lake, who runs the agency, could fire Abramowitz herself. The court disagreed 12.

Who has the power to fire him

The International Broadcasting Advisory Board has seven members. Six are presidential appointees, and no more than three can come from the same party. The seventh is the secretary of state 1.

After starting his second term, President Trump fired six of the seven members. That left Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the only member. The board has not had a quorum, the minimum number of members needed to act, since then 1.

Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, wrote for the panel. The Justice Department said requiring board approval interferes with the president's power over lower-level officers. The court called the Voice of America director "undisputedly an inferior officer" but said the agency's true head is the advisory board 1.

Cornelia Pillard
Congress thus has constitutional authority to vest power over Abramowitz’s removal in the Broadcasting Board
Cornelia Pillard, U.S. Circuit Judge, D.C. Circuit1

Pillard wrote that Congress split the duties. The agency's chief executive manages network heads day to day, and the board has the final say on removing them 1.

The Justice Department also argued that Abramowitz should have taken his case to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal worker disputes. Pillard said this was a press freedom case, not an ordinary workplace dispute, according to a Yahoo News account of the ruling. The court said USAGM leaders "ignored" the law when they "attempted unilaterally to fire" him 2.

How the dispute began

A March 2025 executive order told agencies to cut parts of the federal bureaucracy, including media organizations, to the "maximum extent." Lake then put Abramowitz and 1,300 other employees on administrative leave. A few months later, Abramowitz was fired for refusing to accept a reassignment to a different station 1.

The same court had already refused in October 2025 to let the government remove him while it appealed 3. The panel also pointed to the Supreme Court's order barring the removal of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, which let an official stay in office while a case continues 1.

gratified by this result
Michael Abramowitz, Director, Voice of America2

What happens next

Abramowitz told Bloomberg News he was looking forward to getting back to work at Voice of America 2. The reports did not include a response from Lake or the Justice Department. The administration could ask the full appeals court or the Supreme Court to take up the case, but none of the reports said it plans to.

That matters because the case is about who answers to whom. Congress wrote rules for who can remove the head of a news service paid for by taxpayers. The court held that those rules stand even when the president's team would like to ignore them 12.

Voice of America was created more than 80 years ago to counter Nazi propaganda with fact-based journalism. It has operated through government shutdowns as an essential service 1.

The Record

  1. Trump signs an executive order calling for the elimination of 'nonstatutory components and functions' of media organizations, including VOA, to the 'maximum extent' 1.
  2. The D.C. Circuit refuses to let the government remove Abramowitz while it appeals 3.
  3. A D.C. Circuit panel upholds the permanent injunction barring his removal without a majority vote of the advisory board 1.
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Sources

  1. Courthouse News, “Feds fumble firing of Voice of America director” (2026-11-10). courthousenews.com/feds-fumble-firing-of-voice-of-america-di
  2. Yahoo News, “Kari Lake not allowed to fire VOA director and 'ignore' statute created by Congress: Appeals court” (2026-11-10). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/kari-lake-not-allowed-fire-
  3. Bloomberg Law, “DC Circuit Rejects US Bid to Remove Voice of America Director” (2025-10-07). news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/dc-circuit-rejects-us-bid-t

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