Court Rules Trump Cannot Fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz

A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot fire Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz without approval from the broadcaster’s independent oversight board. A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a lower court’s permanent injunction, finding that the U.S. Agency for Global Media, known as USAGM, lacked the authority to dismiss Abramowitz without a majority vote of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.

Key Points

• A unanimous D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, that the Trump administration cannot fire Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.
• Judge Nina Pillard, writing for the court, said the board law is constitutional and a safeguard against political interference in the broadcaster’s journalism.
• The ruling upholds U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s August 2025 injunction blocking the removal.
• Abramowitz was dismissed in August 2025 by USAGM leader Kari Lake after refusing an ultimatum to take a lower-level post in North Carolina, and he has been on administrative leave since.
• Voice of America once reached about 361 million people a week in 49 languages; it now operates in only eight languages and reaches no more than a dozen countries.

What Happened

The D.C. Circuit decided the case, Michael Abramowitz v. Kari Lake, D.C. Circuit No. 25-05314, on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. All three judges agreed: under the law that created the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, the head of USAGM cannot remove the Voice of America director alone. Only a majority vote of the board can do that.

Judge Nina Pillard wrote the opinion, rejecting two Justice Department arguments. First, government lawyers said Abramowitz should have challenged his dismissal through the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal employment disputes. Pillard wrote that Congress intended the board law to protect Voice of America’s editorial independence, not to create an ordinary employment dispute. Second, the department argued the board law was unconstitutional because it limited the president’s removal power. The court rejected that too, finding the president retains indirect authority because he can remove board members.

Background: The Fight Over Voice of America

The dispute began early in the second Trump administration. In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to sharply reduce Voice of America’s operations, placing most staff on leave and suspending broadcasts. Abramowitz was dismissed in August 2025 by Kari Lake, the administration’s pick to lead USAGM, after he refused an ultimatum to accept a lower-level post in North Carolina. He sued, and Judge Lamberth blocked the firing within weeks.

In a court declaration, Abramowitz set out the scale of the collapse. Before the March 2025 shutdown, Voice of America reached about 361 million people a week in 49 languages across about 100 countries. Today it operates in eight languages and reaches no more than a dozen countries, he said. It no longer broadcasts to Latin America, once about 100 million people a week, and Africa operations are suspended, cutting off an estimated 93 million a week. It has also gone silent in Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The administration says its revised plan differs from the actions first challenged in court, and points to 168 employees returned from leave. But lawyers for Abramowitz, VOA journalists and labour groups say those steps have not undone the shutdown, and on Monday they accused the administration in a memorandum of failing to comply with an earlier court order.

Voice of America Director: Why the Court Said the Board Must Approve

At the heart of the case is a question Congress answered decades ago: who gets to fire the director of Voice of America? The answer, the D.C. Circuit said, is not the head of the parent agency acting alone. The International Broadcasting Advisory Board was created as a firewall between the broadcaster’s journalism and the politics of the administration in power, and the law requires a majority of the board to approve a dismissal.

Judge Pillard’s opinion treats that requirement as a deliberate design choice, not a technicality: the board exists so no single political appointee can remove the head of the country’s flagship international broadcaster on a whim. The court also answered the constitutional objection head on: because the president can remove board members, he retains enough control for the arrangement to pass muster.

Reactions

Abramowitz welcomed the ruling and said he wanted to resume his work at the broadcaster. “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,” he said.

His lawyers and the journalists’ groups backing the case say operations remain far below pre-shutdown levels, and the government has not met its obligations under federal law. The Justice Department has not said whether it will seek a rehearing or appeal to the Supreme Court.

Why It Matters

Voice of America has broadcast American news to the world since 1942, and its credibility has rested on a promise: that its journalism is not the mouthpiece of whichever administration is in power. The advisory board was Congress’s way of keeping that promise. If the administration could fire the director at will, the court said, the firewall would be meaningless.

The ruling also matters for audiences abroad. The collapse from 49 languages to eight has already silenced American news where independent information is scarce, from Latin America to Africa to Southeast Asia. Whether Abramowitz returns to run a hollowed-out broadcaster will shape how much of that reach can ever be rebuilt. The decision is one of several court fights testing the limits of the administration’s power over federal agencies.

What Happens Next

The government can ask the full D.C. Circuit to rehear the case en banc, or appeal to the Supreme Court. Either step would take months, and the injunction stays in place meanwhile. Abramowitz remains on administrative leave, and it is unclear when — or whether — the administration will let him return.

Separately, the shutdown litigation continues, and the court must decide whether the revised plan and the return of 168 employees satisfy earlier orders. For now, Voice of America broadcasts in eight languages to a fraction of its old audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Michael Abramowitz?
Michael Abramowitz is the director of Voice of America, installed on a bipartisan basis two years ago. He was dismissed in August 2025 by USAGM leader Kari Lake and has been on leave since.

What did the appeals court decide?
A unanimous D.C. Circuit panel ruled on November 10, 2026, that the administration cannot fire Abramowitz without a majority board vote, upholding Judge Royce Lamberth’s August 2025 injunction.

Why must the board approve the firing?
Judge Nina Pillard wrote that the board law is constitutional, guards against political interference in VOA’s journalism, and leaves the president indirect authority because he can remove board members.

How much has Voice of America shrunk?
Before the March 2025 shutdown, VOA reached about 361 million people a week in 49 languages. It now operates in eight languages, reaches no more than a dozen countries, and no longer broadcasts to Latin America or Africa.