A federal lawsuit says the Trump administration has unlawfully shuttered
the Voice of America
[March 22, 2025]
By DAVID BAUDER
A lawsuit filed late Friday accuses the Trump administration of
unlawfully shutting down the Voice of America and asks a federal court
to restore the outlet that for decades has supplied news about the
United States to nations around the world — including many that lack a
free press of their own.
The case, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, was brought by Voice
of America reporters, Reporters Without Borders and a handful of unions
against the U.S. Agency for Global Media and Kari Lake, the failed
Arizona candidate who is President Trump's representative there.
“In many parts of the world, a crucial source of objective news is gone,
and only censored state-sponsored news media is left to fill the void,”
the lawsuit said.
Lake has described the broadcast agency as a “giant rot” that needs to
be stripped down and rebuilt.
Voice of America dates to World War II as a source of objective news,
often beamed into authoritarian countries. Funded by Congress, it is
protected by a charter that guarantees its product pass muster for
journalistic rigor.
Suit accuses the administration of taking a ‘chainsaw’ approach
The lawsuit charges that the Trump administration has effectively shut
it down unlawfully in the past week. Republicans have complained that
the news source is infected by left-wing propaganda, a contention its
operators say isn't backed up factually.
“The second Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to the agency as a
whole in an attempt to shutter it completely,” the lawsuit said. There
was no immediate response Friday to a request for comment from the U.S.
Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and a handful
of sister networks.
In an interview with Newsmax earlier this week, Lake described Voice of
America as “like having a rotten fish and trying to find a portion that
you can eat.”
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The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
In a post on X, she said the Agency for Global Media is “a giant rot
and burden to the American taxpayer — a national security risk for
the nation — and irretrievably broken. While there are bright spots
within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated
public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule.”
Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders in
the United States, said his organization was compelled to act to
protect Voice of America and the broader press freedom community.
There are other media-related actions, too
At VOA's sister operation, Radio Free Asia, unpaid furloughs took
effect on Friday for roughly 240 people in the operation's
Washington office, or 75% of the staff members, spokesman Rohit
Mahajan said. Radio Free Asia has also moved to cancel freelance
contracts with people who helped the agency gather news overseas.
Radio Free Asia also expects to file a lawsuit to keep
congressionally-appropriated funding flowing, Mahajan said.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty filed suit on Tuesday, asking the
U.S. District Court in Washington to compel the U.S. Agency for
Global Media to make its next payment. RFE/RL currently broadcasts
in 23 countries across Europe and Asia, in 27 different languages.
In its lawsuit, the organizations called the denial of funding
unprecedented and said it has already forced operations to be
significantly scaled back. “Without its congressionally appropriated
funds, RFE/RL will also be forced to stop the vast majority of its
journalistic work and will be at risk of ceasing to exist as an
organization,” they argued.
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