Judge rebukes Kari Lake in filing alleging blatant contempt

The Reagan appointee ruled that Lake and her agency have until Oct. 14 to show that their plans to reduce the Voice of America workforce are legal.

Sept. 30, 2025, 6:24 PM EDT
By Ja'han Jones

... a federal judge temporarily blocked Lake — in her capacity as acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media — from eliminating the jobs of more than 500 employees from the taxpayer-funded Voice of America news organization.

Lake, a former local news anchor-turned-failed political candidate in Arizona, has effectively tried to gut USAGM since Donald Trump selected her to run the agency this year. Lake and the Trump administration had been moving forward with plans to lay off the VOA employees — in defiance of a court-ordered demand that the agency comply with established processes to carry out the cuts.

In light of that, U.S. District Judge Royce Lambert found himself in a scenario similar to that of the judges who oversaw Lake’s dubious election-related lawsuits as a candidate: having to take her to task. The Reagan appointee’s ruling blocked the firings for now and described Lake’s actions as potential contempt of court: