VOA sues USAGM supervisor, seeks reinstatement after Trump order

A group including six Voice of America (VOA) journalists have filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Donald Trump and other officials, accusing them of illegally shutting down several publicly funded broadcasters.

The lawsuit, filed on March 21 in New York, accuses the Trump administration of taking a tough approach to the US Agency for Global Media through an executive order signed a week ago.

A few hours later, VOA staff were placed on administrative leave and the media's buildings were closed.

Many media observers and analysts have said the decision to shut down the operations of VOA and other state-funded broadcasters will embolden authoritarians around the world, losing "a critical line" of information to their populations.

"What is happening to VOA journalists is not just an intimidation of free speech, which stems from the First Article of the U.S. Constitution; it is a government shutdown of journalism, a restriction that extinguishes content before it is created," the lawsuit said.

"Tragic attack on democracy"

The lawsuit also targets the acting director of USAGM, Victor Morales, and special counsel, Kari Lake. The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration's moves to close USAGM violate the rights of VOA employees under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit also asks the court to reinstate USAGM grants to media outlets funded through that grant, including Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Network. The grants to these media outlets were terminated on the same day VOA was shut down.

"The defendant has violated all of these laws by closing down USAGM and completely disrupting the activity of gathering and distributing news and opinions through VOA and its sister service, Radio Television Marti, as well as other partner media outlets such as Radio Free Europe and the Middle East Broadcasting Network. These actions are unconstitutional and unlawful and must be stopped immediately," the lawsuit said.

In addition to the six Voice of America journalists, participants in the lawsuit include the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, The NewsGuild-CWA, the American Foreign Service Association, and Reporters Without Borders.

David Seide, senior advisor at the Government Accountability Project, a nonpartisan civil rights and whistleblower protection organization that is representing VOA journalists in this case, called the US administration's action "another tragic attack on democracy."

"For more than eight decades, VOA and its sister organizations have been outstanding, as evidenced by the more than 400 million viewers, listeners and readers they have had every day," he said. "That reputation has now been destroyed. Our lawsuit aims to stop that destruction."

Kari Lake, a vocal Trump supporter, did not immediately respond to the news, but around the time news of the lawsuit broke, she wrote on X that when The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, CBS, and 60 Minutes asked her for interviews this week, she had declined.

"I am not an interviewer for controversial 'media'," she wrote.

Many Republicans, including Trump and Lake, have claimed that VOA and other broadcasters are infected with left-wing propaganda, a charge that executives at these broadcasters say is not based on facts.

On March 18, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty filed a lawsuit against USAGM, Lake, and Morales to block their efforts to terminate the federal grant to REL, which provides the media outlet with funds to operate.

The lawsuit argues that denying Congress-approved funds to REL violates federal laws and the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress exclusive authority over federal spending.

The lawsuit has been filed in the District of Columbia District Court.

"This is not the time to give ground to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," said REL President Stephen Capus.

"We believe that the law is on our side and the celebration of our destruction by despots around the world is premature," he added./REL