March 8 (UPI) — A federal judge invalidated Kari Lake’s efforts to dismantle Voice of America amid sweeping layoffs at the U.S. Agency for Global Media because she was not eligible for the position.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled on Saturday that when President Donald Trump appointed her acting director of USAGM but, because she had not been confirmed for the role by the Senate, all of her actions in the position are null and void, The Guardian and NPR reported.

During a four-month period in 2025, Lake laid off more than 1,000 people at the independent federal agency, including efforts to shutter Voice of America and defund other U.S. government-backed news agencies.

“Only the Appointments Clause or the Vacancies Act’s exclusive structure may authorize service as a principal officer, and Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution,” Lamberth wrote in his ruling.

Lamberth said, based on evidence, Lake exercised 95% of the USAGM CEO’s duties, including at one point overruling its then acting CEO, Victor Morales, from January 2025 until July 2025, when she replaced him.

Among actions the judge invalidated was Lake’s move to fire 639 USAGM employees as a reduction-in-force in June 2025.

Lake, who called the ruling “bogus,” said on Saturday night that an “activist judge” is trying to stand in the way of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut “bureaucracy, eliminate waste and restore accountability to the government.”

VOA employees who filed the suit in an effort to restore the news agency’s previous global operations said in a statement that they felt “vindicated and deeply grateful” for the ruling.

“The judge’s ruling that Kari Lake’s actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,” Patsy Widakuswara, Jessica Jerreat and Kate Neeper said in the statement.