WASHINGTON: A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration on Monday to pause the layoffs of hundreds of employees from the agency that owns the US news service Voice of America, adding that government officials had shown "concerning disrespect" for the court's directives.

US District Judge Royce Lamberth halted the plan while he determines whether the US Agency for Global Media complied with an injunction he issued in April that it "fulfills its statutory mandate that VOA serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news."

The layoffs would affect 532 full-time staff jobs, representing the majority of the agency's remaining employees. VOA broadcasts were abruptly shut down in March under an executive order from US President Donald Trump.

Lamberth said in his written order that he "no longer harbours any doubt" that the defendants, which include the agency and its acting CEO Kari Lake, "lack a plan to comply with the preliminary injunction".

Instead, they have "been running out the clock on the fiscal year while remaining in violation of even the most meager reading of USAGM and Voice of America’s statutory obligations," he said.

Representatives for the White House and the agency, as well as attorneys for the employees who filed the litigation, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

Trump, who clashed with VOA during his first term, picked Lake, a former news anchor, to be its director for his second term. Lake, a staunch ally of the president, has often accused mainstream media of harboring anti-Trump bias.

Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA reached 360 million people a week in 2024, according to a USAGM report to Congress.

Lamberth, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has been hearing a batch of lawsuits challenging the legality of Trump's March executive order. The cases include one filed by Michael Abramowitz, VOA's director.

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US court suspends Trump layoff of hundreds at Voice of America