A federal judge on Saturday ruled that Kari Lake unlawfully served as the acting head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media for much of last year, invalidating a series of decisions she made that reduced staffing and scaled back operations at Voice of America.

In his ruling, Royce Lamberth granted summary judgment to plaintiffs that included Voice of America journalists and a federal employees’ union. They argued Lake’s appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act as well as the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Lamberth determined that Lake was not eligible to serve as acting chief executive because she was not employed by the agency when former CEO Amanda Bennett stepped down in January 2025 and had not been confirmed by the Senate to any other federal role.

Lake officially joined the agency in March as a senior adviser. A November news release from the organization described her as deputy CEO.

The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that Lake could exercise the powers of the chief executive through a delegation of authority from former acting CEO Victor Morales.

The ruling represents at least the third time Lamberth has sided against the Trump administration in disputes involving Voice of America. Earlier decisions in April and September temporarily blocked efforts that would have placed many VOA employees out of work, though the April ruling was later overturned by an appeals court.

Lake said she plans to challenge the latest decision, criticizing the ruling in a statement.

“Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings — and this case is no different,” she said.