A federal appeals court on Saturday blocked a ruling ordering the US President Donald Trump administration to return more than 1,000 Voice of America, VOA, employees back to work.
Recall that US District Judge Royce Lamberth had last month ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions at the US news service.
Lamberth also wants the Trump administration to restore some grants and VOA employees to resume radio, television and online news broadcasts.
However, the appeals court in a 2-1 decision suggested Lamberth lacked jurisdiction to order the employees to return to work.
It added that Lamberth also lacked the to jurisdiction to required the restoration of $15 million in grants for Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
The appeals court noted the Trump administration did not challenge the aspect of Lamberth’s ruling requiring it to restore VOA’s “statutorily required programming levels.”
US Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard dissented from the ruling, saying it “all but guarantees that the networks will no longer exist in any meaningful form by the time this case is fully adjudicated.”
Pillard, however, added that it would result in “silencing Voice of America for the foreseeable future and eliminating Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks’ ability to see this case through to the end.”
Meanwhile, under Trump’s directive, VOA is not reporting the news for the first time in its 80-year existence.
