A U.S. court has blocked an initiative by the administration of President Donald Trump that sought to lay off hundreds of employees at the Voice of America (VOA) media organization.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered that more than 1,000 VOA employees return to work by March 23. The court also instructed authorities to restore the organization’s international broadcasting, RFE/RL reported.

In his ruling, Lamberth stated that attempts by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to halt VOA’s overseas broadcasting operations violated the law.

Earlier, in September, Lamberth had already imposed a temporary injunction suspending planned staff reductions at USAGM.

The cuts had been announced last August by Kari Lake, former head of USAGM appointed by Donald Trump. Before that, in March, Trump signed an executive order that envisioned significant reductions at the U.S. government-funded media organization Voice of America.

Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, Voice of America has long been considered an important instrument for promoting U.S. values abroad. Although legal safeguards exist to protect its editorial independence from political influence, Trump has repeatedly clashed with the organization.