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Sunday, 8 March 2026

Activist Judge Rules Kari Lake Appointment to Lead U.S. Agency for Global Media is ‘Unconstitutional’ — Says Layoffs and Orders “Have No Force or Effect” — Kari Lake Responds

 

Speaker addressing the audience at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies event, with an American flag in the background.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth

Activist Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has ruled that Kari Lake’s appointment as Senior Advisor to the Acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) was “unconstitutional.”

The court claimed that Lake’s appointment allegedly “violated” both the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, meaning she lacked the lawful authority to exercise the powers of the agency’s chief executive.

According to the ruling, the problem with Lake’s appointment was twofold.

First, she had not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which is typically required for principal officers exercising the powers of a federal agency head.

Second, the court found that Lake was not serving in the agency at the time the vacancy occurred, which disqualified her from assuming the role under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

Because those legal requirements were not satisfied, the judge concluded that Lake never had lawful authority to act as acting CEO of USAGM.

The ruling on Saturday goes even further.

It states that every official action Lake took while exercising the powers of the CEO is invalid, including major policy decisions and personnel moves.

The ruling specifically declares that:

  • All official actions taken by Kari Lake between July 31 and November 19, 2025 are void
  • This includes reduction-in-force notices issued on August 29, 2025
  • Any other actions taken under the delegated authorities of the office “shall have no force or effect.”

In the same order, the court required federal officials to file a status report by March 11, 2026 explaining:

  • Who has served as acting CEO of USAGM since November 2025
  • Who is currently serving in that role
  • The agency’s official succession plan
  • All delegations of CEO authority issued since January 2025

The judge also ordered that any future appointment or delegation of authority must be filed with the court within 48 hours.

Kari Lake has already signaled she plans to challenge the ruling, blasting the outrageous ruling after responding to a tweet from CNN’s “Potato Head” Brian Stelter.

“Potato Head (@brianstelter), We will appeal this outrageous ruling from an activist DC District Court Judge. Unfortunately, this image of you insulting and betraying masculinity is with us forever.”

Kari Lake added in an official statement:

“The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government.

An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM. Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings — and this case is no different. We strongly disagree with this decision and will appeal.”

This ruling comes as no surprise from Lamberth, a judge with a long history of siding against conservative reforms and protecting the deep state bureaucracy.

As The Gateway Pundit has previously reported, Lamberth has been critical of Lake’s efforts to downsize the bloated USAGM and its affiliates, including in an August 2025 ruling where he blocked Lake from firing Voice of America (VOA) Director Michael Abramowitz, forcing taxpayers to continue paying his six-figure salary while he sits on paid leave.

Kari Lake has been a fearless warrior against the corruption embedded in USAGM since her swearing-in as Senior Advisor in March 2025.

Lake has exposed shocking instances of pro-CCP corruption at Radio Free Asia and pro-EU meddling by Radio Free Europe in Hungary’s elections, slamming seditious Democrats in the process.

She testified before Congress that “this place is rotten to the core,” highlighting waste, fraud, and abuse.

In November 2025, Lake blew the lid off a “shocking fire sale” and lies about funding, vowing to refer criminal behavior to the DOJ.

She even axed Hungarian-language propaganda operations at Radio Free Europe.

In an exclusive interview with TGP, Lake revealed how she is “breaking through regime censorship” and delivering President Trump’s pro-America message worldwide. 

This latest ruling echoes a similar activist decision from a New York federal judge in March 2025, who granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting Lake's initial reforms.

That order, issued by Judge J. Paul Oetken, blocked terminations and grant endings at USAGM, citing similar constitutional and statutory violations.

As TGP reported at the time, this was yet another example of judges in corrupt venues like New York and D.C. overriding the executive branch to protect radical left-wing propaganda.

The deep state is fighting back hard because Lake is winning, exposing how taxpayer dollars have funded anti-American narratives for years.

Hollywood Legend James Woods Leaves Republican Party: “I am Done”

 Conservative icon and Hollywood legend James Woods has announced he’s ditching the Republican Party.

Woods, a fierce patriot and vocal supporter of President Trump, blasted the “uniparty traitors” in a fiery post on X, declaring, “I am done with the Republican Party.”

Woods’ decision comes amid growing frustration with Senate Republican leadership, particularly cowardly Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who has continuously stalled the crucial SAVE Act, a bill designed to safeguard American elections by requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration.

Without this measure, Woods warns, the floodgates will remain open for election fraud, illegal aliens pouring in, and the permanent destruction of our republic.

“Between this and Thune’s refusal to pass the SAVE Act, I’m done with these uniparty traitors,” Woods wrote.

“I’m changing my party affiliation to Independent. No wonder President Trump is fighting an uphill battle every day,” added.

Woods has been hammering Thune for weeks, asking who destroyed the GOP more: Paul Ryan or Thune? He praised young warriors like Wesley Hunt, Marco Rubio, and JD Vance as America’s last hope, while calling the old RINOs destroyers.

Without the SAVE Act, Woods predicts disaster:

Without the SAVE Act, we will…

Lose the House in November.

Democrats will nuke the filibuster.

The Senate will be lost within four years.

More Ketanji Browns will be confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Democrats will then cheat a Democrat into the White House.

The border will be opened like a wound. We will be flooded with illegal aliens.

The cheating at the polls will then be irreversible.

Democrats will be a supermajority for decades to come.

Every city and town will look end up looking like every blue city shithole looks now.

America will become a socialist sewer.

OR…

The Senate can dump big corp parasite John Thune, and pass the damn SAVE Act.

Woods is also frustrated with the ongoing dispute inside the GOP over whether to pursue aggressive investigations into Democratic lawmakers.

Woods specifically cited the controversy surrounding Rep. Nancy Mace’s effort to subpoena immigration records connected to Rep. Ilhan Omar, an effort that reportedly failed to gain support from fellow Republicans.

Mace publicly complained that her motion to subpoena the records was killed by spineless RINOs.

“Well, what’s happened so far? I think the remark is always, “Let the process play out.” That’s what they always say—and nothing ever happens. I tried to subpoena her immigration records and her brother-husband’s immigration records, and it was Republicans that killed my motion,” Mace told LindellTV.

She added, “As far as I know, nothing’s going on. Nothing will go on. That’s Congress for you—because both sides protect the other.”

James Woods’ defection is a wake-up call for every true conservative: The Republican Party is infested with traitors. Time to clean house, support real fighters like Trump, and take back our country.