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, Michael Abramowitz said
Appeals court affirms illegal dismissal
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) lacked the authority to oust Abramowitz.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Nina Pillard stated that the law establishing the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB) is a durable barrier against any breach of the firewall protecting the journalistic integrity of Voice of America and the affiliate networks,
rather than standard employment law.
The panel’s complete agreement was delivered by Judges Cornelia Pillard and Sri Srinivasan, who received their appointments from President Barack Obama, alongside Florence Y. Pan, who was named to the bench by President Joe Biden.
The decision reverses an effort by USAGM leadership to remove Abramowitz, who assumed the directorship in 2024. The court found that USAGM leaders attempted unilaterally to fire
the director and ignored
the statute created by Congress to provide oversight via the IBAB.
The government also claimed that the recent law empowering the independent board is unconstitutional.
Constitutional authority and board quorum
While the court acknowledged that the VOA director is undisputedly an inferior officer,
it ruled that the true head of the news agency is its advisory board. Judge Cornelia Pillard noted that the president retains authority over the position because the president can remove members of the oversight board, according to Courthouse News.
Following his return to the presidency for a second term, Donald Trump dismissed six out of seven board members, retaining only Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a move that deprived the advisory panel of its required quorum.
The panel included Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Florence Pan. The judges drew a parallel to a recent Supreme Court decision that allowed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to stay in office while challenges regarding her removal remained active.
History of the VOA dispute
The litigation follows a series of moves by the administration to restructure the broadcaster. In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,
requiring the nonstatutory components and functions of VOA and other media organizations to be eliminated to the maximum extent. The order also oversaw Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.
Following this order, Kari Lake, head of the USAGM, placed Abramowitz and approximately 1,300 other Voice of America employees on indefinite administrative leave
and reassigned his duties to another employee. In August 2025, Abramowitz was fired for refusing to accept his reassignment to a different station in North Carolina.
Afterward, Trump formally nominated Sarah B. Rogers, a State Department official, to concurrently serve as the agency’s CEO, though she has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.
Abramowitz responds to ruling
Abramowitz expressed his reaction to the decision via statements obtained by Politico, saying he was gratified by this result
and looked forward to getting back to the important work Voice of America does worldwide on behalf of the American people.
Abramowitz wrote that he is heartened by Rogers' indication of support for bringing back more staff and programming.