Feds fumble firing of Voice of America director

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court's ruling that only an advisory board can terminate the news agency’s director, which has remained without quorum since Trump fired six of the seven members.WASHINGTON (CN) — A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday ruled that the U.S. Agency of Global Media cannot unilaterally remove Michale Abramowitz as director of Voice of America without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.The three-judge panel upheld U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s permanent injunction barring Abramowitz’s removal without a majority vote by the advisory board, which has not had a quorum since 2024.The seven-member advisory board is made up of six presidential appointees — no more than three can be from the same party — with the seventh being the secretary of state. Upon taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump fired six of the seven members, leaving just Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge.Article II of the U.S. Constitution empowers the president with appointing and removing inferior officers to be the head of certain departments and agencies. But while the Voice of America director is “undisputedly an inferior officer,” the appellate court decided the true head of the news agency is its advisory board.“Congress thus has constitutional authority to vest power over Abramowitz’s removal in the Broadcasting Board,” U.S. Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote. “The section creates two pathways for removal of a network head. First, ‘only’ the approval of a ‘majority’ of the Broadcasting Board can authorize the agency CEO to appoint or remove a network head. Second, without the CEO’s initiative or agreement, ‘five or more members’ of the Broadcasting Board ‘may unilaterally remove’ a network head ‘after consulting with the agency CEO.”The Justice Department unsuccessfully argued that requiring board approval to fire Abramowitz violates the separation of powers by “unduly interfering with the president’s authority to remove inferior officers.” The feds insisted the Constitution’s appointments clause requires Congress to hand control of inferior officers to the official who “actually employs” the inferior officer — in this case, U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Kari Lake.Trump targeted VOA and other media organizations in a March 2025 executive order, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” requiring their “nonstatutory components and functions” to be eliminated to the “maximum extent.” Lake placed Abramowitz on administrative leave with 1,300 other employees and reassigned his duties to another employee. A few months later, Abramowitz was fired for refusing to accept his reassignment to a different station.In the year since Abramowitz challenged his termination, the Supreme Courtbarred the removal of Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook. Pillard, a Barack Obama appointee, pointed to how the justices upheld the judiciary’s ability to allow an individual to remain in office throughout litigation.Pillard added that Congress effectively divvied up responsibilities between both the advisory board and the agency CEO, with the latter managing the heads of network on a daily basis and the former having the final say on their removal.The VOA was created more than 80 years ago to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II with pro-democracy programming and fact-driven journalism and has not shut down since. The organization has operated through government shutdowns as an essential service.Pillard was joined on the panel by Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan and U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, appointed by Obama and Joe Biden, respectively.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads