“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.
Judges Neomi Rao and Greg Katsas, each nominated by Donald Trump to the DC Circuit, joined in a 2-1 ruling that approved a major cut, to “the minimum level of operations required by statute,” to Voice of America (VOA) and other broadcast networks authorized by Congress. Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was nominated by President Obama, strongly dissented in the April 2025 ruling in Widakuswara v Lake.
What has happened in this case?
In mid-March, Trump signed an executive order that effectively dismantled the Voice of America (VOA) and other broadcasts approved by Congress for overseas listeners, including firing more than 1000 employees. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was nominated by President Reagan, issued a preliminary injunction ruling that the order was likely invalid. This allowed the stations to continue to operate as the litigation goes forward.
The Administration appealed to the DC Circuit. The case was considered by Trump judges Katsas and Rao and Obama nominee Pillard.
How did Katsas and Rao rule and why is the result harmful?
In an unsigned order, Rao and Katsas stayed Judge Lamberth’s preliminary injunction, effectively reversing it and putting the Executive Order into effect. They claimed that the Administration is “likely to succeed” on the merits of the case.
Judge Pillard wrote a scathing dissent. Voice of America and the other networks, she wrote, face “severe and irreparable harm without injunctive relief” that they have already begun to suffer. Although a stay is supposed to “maintain the status quo until a case can be fully adjudicated,” she went on, this stay “does the opposite,” as it silences VOA “for the foreseeable future.” Networks “charged with exemplifying the ideals of free speech, free opinion, and a free press to the world,” she concluded, “are silenced by our own government’s action in disregard of the expressed will of Congress” through conduct that is “likely to be found unlawful.”
The case is not yet over, and may well be considered by the full DC Circuit and the Supreme Court. As it continues, however, serious harm will take place, as Judge Pillard explained. The case also illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.