Six Voice of America journalists sued the Trump administration and MAGA broadcaster Kari Lake late Friday for shutting down the media network. The organization is asking a federal court to restore the outlet that for decades has supplied news about the United States around the world.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York, and asked a federal judge to restore the services President Donald Trump shut down in an executive order issued earlier this month that dismantled the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The agency oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Free Asia.
The VOA journalists were joined by Reporters Without Borders and four labor organizations in the lawsuit that named USAGM acting CEO Victor Morales and Kari Lake, special adviser to the agency, as defendants. Neither has commented on the matter yet.
The journalists say that the government's acts violate their First Amendment rights on free speech grounds and usurp the U.S. Congress's control of the power of the federal purse.
The lead plaintiffs include Patsy Widakuswara, until recently VOA's White House bureau chief and Jessica Jerreat, its press freedom editor. For other journalists sued anonymously as John Does. Kathryn Neeper, the director of strategy and performance assessment at USAGM, is also named plaintiff.
"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. "What is happening to the VOA Journalists is not just the chilling of First Amendment speech; it is a government shutdown of journalism, a prior restraint that kills content before it can be created."
VOA 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. VOA and its sister networks practice a form of soft diplomacy, telling stories about democracy in countries where press freedom is limited or nonexistent.
"They're not in the propaganda business. They're like the BBC," said Dave Saide, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit that represents whistleblowers. "They're here to be objective in their reporting, because that's the basis for their credibility around the world, and that's why 420 million people tune in to these networks every single week."
The Trump administration, and its allies, have been vocal about their opposition to VOA. In an interview with Newsmax earlier this week, Lake described VOA as "like having a rotten fish and trying to find a portion that you can eat."
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."
Since Trump's executive order came into effect, along with him and Elon Musk's DOGE efforts to cut down the size of government, more than 900 full-time network employees were placed on indefinite leave last weekend; 550 contractors were terminated from their jobs. Most employees at USAGM were also placed on indefinite leave.
But VOA is not the only network feeling these effects. One of its sister operations, Radio Free Asia, furloughed 240 employees with no pay on Friday in the operation's Washington office or 75% of the staff members. Radio Free Asia 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, according to the Associated Press. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, asking the U.S. District Court inWashington to compel USAGM to make its next payment.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
