Why?
Because President Trump put her in office ILLEGALLY the judge has ruled….
Only Congress created these agencies and only Congress can actuall get rid of them….
Trump has wanted the agency gone and give the job to do to Lake…
(Does this remind you of some US Justice Dept. Revenge Hires kicked by Judges?)
Trump’s losses keep mounting up, eh?
The Court finds that these expansive delegations were an unlawful effort to transform Lake into the CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media in all but name,” Lamberth wrote.
The decision is the latest in a string of legal defeats to the Trump administration’s year-long effort to dismantle USAGM, the federal agency that in addition to Voice of America oversees other U.S.-funded international broadcasters including Radio Free Asia.
“The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government,” Lake said in a statement on Saturday. “An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM. … We strongly disagree with this decision and will appeal.”
Lake, a former television anchor who unsuccessfully ran for governor and a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, billed herself as a reformer who would fix what she has called the “most corrupt agency in Washington.”
After Trump issued an executive order last March ordering the drawdown of the agency, Lake placed most staffers on administrative leave and cut hundreds of contractors. Two lawsuits were filed, one by a group of employees and another by VOA Director Michael Abramowitz, challenging her moves, but most of the agency’s workers are still on leave today….
…
The judge has on multiple occasions threatened to hold Lake in contempt of court for not cooperating with his orders, and ordered her and two other officials to be deposed last fall. Lake said in that eight-hour deposition that she learned of Trump’s executive order shrinking the agency the same day it was issued.
Lake’s tenure at USAGM has been troubled from the start. Trump fired members of the little-known, Senate-confirmed International Broadcasting Advisory Board that appoints the director of Voice of America, so there was arguably no legal mechanism for placing her in that role. Trump never nominated Lake for USAGM’s CEO role, which requires Senate confirmation.
Lake was instead named senior adviser to acting chief executive Victor Morales, who then delegated his authorities to her. Lake has also called herself acting CEO and, more recently, deputy CEO — leading to public confusion about her precise title….
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Lamberth asked that the government provide clarity on who is the acting CEO of the agency by March 11, and also lay out a “succession plan” for that position….
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