Employees at Voice of America sued the Trump administration on Thursday after the president issued an executive order to dismantle the agency this month.
Voice of America (VOA) employees filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration and Kari Lake on Thursday after Trump ordered the agency to be dismantled earlier this month.
“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 VOA employees argued in the lawsuit.
Trump signed an executive order in March that commanded the dismantling of seven government offices, including the United States Agency for Global Media, which is the parent company of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Trump named Lake as a special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media after he won the election.
“The second Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to the agency as a whole in an attempt to shutter it completely,” the lawsuit read, according to the Associated Press.
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“The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” Trump’s executive order read.
Lake told employees to “check your email” for more information on the future of their employment in a post on social media.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media and Lake issued a press release on March 15 saying the agency is “not salvageable.”
“From top-to-bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this 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,” the U.S. Agency for Global media’s press release said.
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“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,” the lawsuit read.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
“Tragically, Kari Lake lives in the MAGA fantasy world, but she makes decisions that have real-world consequences for hundreds of journalists,” David Seide, the VOA employees’ attorney, told NPR.
Patsy Widakuswara, the White House Bureau chief at VOA, and Jessica Jerreat, the press freedom editor at VOA, are the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
