A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from firing Michael Abramowitz as director of Voice of America, ruling he cannot be removed without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.

Abramowitz had been placed on administrative leave and was slated for termination amid mass layoffs affecting over 600 employees.

Judge Royce Lamberth called the planned firing “plainly contrary to law.”

Voice of America, along with affiliated networks like Radio Free Europe and Radio Marti, reaches over 400 million people and serves to promote U.S. influence globally, the Associated Press has reported.