President Donald Trump moved Thursday to shore up leadership at the U.
S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), tapping senior State Department official Sarah B. Rogers to serve as the agencys next Chief Executive Officer amid an escalating legal and political fight over control of Americas taxpayer-funded international broadcasters.
The nomination follows a federal court ruling that struck directly at one of Trumps closest allies, Kari Lake, who had been serving as the de facto head of USAGM. According to One America News, a U.S. District Court judge concluded that Lake had been leading the agency illegally, prompting the White House to move swiftly to install a nominee who can withstand judicial scrutiny and, if confirmed, restore conservative reforms through proper constitutional channels.
Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and a prominent figure in the America First movement, responded defiantly to the ruling and to the media narrative surrounding it. President Trump tasked me with right-sizing @USAGM, a taxpayer-funded global media agency. Weve been so effective over the last year that the Deep State has done everything they can to stop us, including launching malicious lawsuits at me and the agency, she posted on X on Thursday.
In the same post, Lake sharply criticized the federal bench and made clear she has no intention of backing down from her reform agenda. A rotund DC District Court judge wants me OUT of the agency, but despite his absurd orders and rulings, I remain in the exact same position today as I was before: Deputy CEO where I am even more determined to finish the job, she wrote, underscoring her view that entrenched bureaucrats and activist judges are working in tandem to derail Trumps efforts to rein in sprawling government media operations.
Lake emphasized that her mission has always been to align USAGMs work with U.S. foreign policy and the national interest, rather than with the preferences of the permanent bureaucracy. Last summer, I testified before Congress on the importance of USAGM functions integrating into the Department of State (@StateDept), where we can ensure agency priorities align with U.S. foreign policy and the national interest, she noted, framing the integration push as a matter of democratic accountability and strategic coherence.
She also signaled strong support for the interim leadership team that will oversee the agency while Rogers awaits Senate confirmation. I look forward to working with Deputy Secretary Rigas (@DepSecStateMR), a patriotic fighter with experience reducing the size of government, who will serve as Acting CEO. Together, Mike and I, while we wait for Under Secretary Rogers (@UnderSecPD) to be confirmed as USAGM CEO, will root-out corruption at the agency and make it more accountable to American taxpayers, Lake added, casting the coming months as a critical window for conservative reform.
Lake currently serves as a senior advisor to USAGM, according to CBS News, a role that has allowed her to influence policy even as her formal authority has come under legal attack. The leadership crisis was triggered by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who ruled on Saturday that Lakes tenure as acting head of the agency violated both the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
Judge Lamberths 17-page opinion amounted to a sweeping condemnation of the administrations management of USAGM, which oversees Voice of America (VOA) and several other U.S.-funded international broadcasters. The court went so far as to declare every official action taken by Lake between July and November 2025 legally void, a move that reportedly erases five months of executive governance from the states record and effectively pretends those decisions never existed.
By treating those actions as void rather than merely voidable, the court created a legal vacuum that reaches into nearly every corner of the agencys operations. This unprecedented step most directly affects Lakes aggressive right-sizing initiative, which the Trump administration has defended as a necessary effort to streamline government and curb ideological drift in taxpayer-funded media, even as the court derided it as a legally flawed exercise of power.
As a result, hundreds of personnel terminations have been immediately nullified, impacting an estimated workforce of more than 1,000 individuals across various state entities tied to USAGM. Agencies must now attempt to reintegrate employees into positions that, in many cases, have been restructured, consolidated, or eliminated in the name of efficiency and fiscal responsibility.
Beyond the bureaucratic turmoil, the ruling exposes the government to potentially massive financial liabilities in the form of back pay, restored benefits, and possible legal damages. By forcing a wholesale restoration of the pre-reform status quo, the court has effectively tried to halt the administrations momentum and cast Lakes broader policy agenda into legal limbo, despite clear voter support for trimming the federal bureaucracy.
Judge Lamberth has also ordered the White House to produce a formal legal succession plan, insisting that USAGM cannot continue to operate under de facto leaders who have not been confirmed by the Senate. That directive appears to have accelerated Trumps decision to nominate Rogers, a move designed to both satisfy constitutional requirements and preserve the administrations ability to reshape the agency along more accountable, pro-American lines.
Rogers currently serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, a senior post that places her at the center of U.S. messaging and outreach abroad. If confirmed, she is expected to hold both roles simultaneously in what officials describe as a dual-hatted arrangement that the State Department says will strengthen coordination between American public diplomacy and international broadcasting.
Before entering government, Rogers reportedly worked in private legal practice, representing organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA), a background likely to draw fire from the left but welcomed by conservatives who see the NRA as a bulwark of Second Amendment rights. Since joining the State Department in October 2025, she has focused heavily on free speech, particularly criticizing Western European governments for what she calls the criminalization of language tied to far-left online content moderation regimes.
While Rogers prepares for what is expected to be a contentious confirmation battle in a deeply polarized Senate, Trump has designated Michael Rigas to serve as temporary acting CEO of USAGM. Between Rigass interim stewardship, Lakes continued presence as Deputy CEO and senior advisor, and Rogerss pending nomination, the administration is signaling that it has no intention of surrendering control of U.S. global media to unelected bureaucrats or activist judges, and intends instead to press ahead with reforms aimed at making the agency leaner, more accountable, and firmly aligned with American interests.
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