Journalists at Voice of America can begin a “phased return” to office and resume programming next week, according to a Justice Department email sent to employees Friday.
VOA begins its return after being off the air for almost two months, after the Trump administration halted programming in a March 14 executive order targeting a number of federal agencies and offices including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the parent agency of the government-funded media outlet.
But the effort to dismantle the government-backed news outlet hit legal setbacks. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the Trump administration to restore Voice of America in a preliminary injunction issued April 22. Lamberth argued that the administration’s decision to dismantle VOA likely violated the constitution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda González Horowitz confirmed the return to office in an email sent to attorneys representing VOA employees. The email also confirms that all VOA employees have regained system access.
“USAGM currently expects staff to begin to return to the office next week, as security, building space, and equipment issues require a phased return,” González Horowitz wrote in the email, which was obtained by POLITICO. The Washington Post first reported on VOA’s looming return.
A spokesperson for USAGM did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday morning. VOA has operated for over 80 years to report “accurate, objective, and comprehensive” news that will “present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively,” according to its charter.
The Trump administration in March ordered that federal grants through USAGM will be reviewed and “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” A D.C. Circuit panel — which has two Trump appointees — paused parts of orders blocking the cuts to USAGM Thursday, but the order to return staff and resume programming was maintained.
But as employees are set to begin a phased return to office, some question whether or not the agency will be able to return to its previous state.
“We’re going to have to bring VOA out of a deep coma,” Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, said in an interview with POLITICO. “And is it possible that it’ll ever regain full consciousness? That remains to be seen, because so much of the brain of VOA was destroyed by trying to strangle us.”
