Voice of America employees file motion to block Trump administration-led job cuts News
Sarah Stierch, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Voice of America employees file motion to block Trump administration-led job cuts

Voice of America employees filed an emergency motion on Monday to obtain a temporary restraining order to halt the Trump administration’s efforts to implement sweeping cuts at the federally funded broadcaster.

The plaintiffs allege in the motion that the layoffs violate the First Amendment by targeting Voice of America’s editorial independence and claim that the abrupt removal of journalists and cancellation of funding to grantee broadcasters violates the statutory firewall established by Congress to prevent political interference in US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) operations. The plaintiffs further claim that the wave of proposed layoffs and program cancellations is part of a broader campaign by the Trump-appointed officials including Senior Advisor Kari Lake and Acting CEO Victor Morales (both are defendants in this case) to assert control over the agency’s editorial content, citing previous attempts to lay off veteran journalists and restrict coverage deemed critical of the administration.

Voice of America filed a complaint against the Trump administration last week after Trump signed an order to dismantle seven federal media agencies, including USAGM, Voice of America’s parent company. In the lawsuit, they alleged that the planned reductions violate statutory protections designed to insulate Voice of America from political interference. This follows another legal action by RadioFree Europe and Radio Liberty.

This also follows the Trump administration’s order for nearly all 1300 employees of VOA to be placed on leave, which came after the White House issued a statement criticizing Voice of America for the content and nature of its news coverage and the political views of its staff.

During Trump’s previous term, a legal complaint alleging that USAGM CEO Michael Pack violated the First Amendment by interfering with editorial decisions at Voice of America was upheld by a judge in 2020.

The court is expected to rule on the emergency restraining order in the coming days.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US and Japan sign Kanagwa Treaty

On March 31, 1854, US Commodore Matthew Perry and representatives of the Japanese government signed the Convention of Kanagawa. The terms of the treaty marked the end of Japan's 500 years of self-imposed isolation by opening the Ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. Four years later, Japanese-American relations were further expanded by the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Harris Treaty), which opened more Japanese ports to US trade and set up a system of extraterritoriality for Americans in Japan.

Spanish royal decree ordered expulsion of Jews

On March 31, 1492, King Ferdinand of Spain signed a decree expelling Jews from his kingdom. Read a contemporary account of the expulsion, originally written in Hebrew by an Italian Jew in 1495.