The lawsuit by the director and journalists is the latest legal challenge to the administration’s bid to dismantle the government-funded broadcaster.
The director of Voice of America, along with journalists at the government-funded international broadcaster, sued Trump administration officials on Wednesday over the government’s attempt to shut down the network.
The lawsuit, filed by Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America’s director, marks the latest legal challenge to the administration’s push to shrink the government. President Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to dismantle seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
The suit follows a separate complaint filed last week by Voice of America journalists and their unions, who argued that the government’s actions to dismantle the news outlet violated their First Amendment rights. Voice of America, with a budget of roughly $270 million and more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages and has an estimated weekly audience of more than 361 million.
Hundreds of Voice of America employees were placed on administrative leave, effectively causing the broadcaster to go dark. That move, and the administration’s decision to terminate contractors, “contravenes base line constitutional principles and the express will of Congress,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint on Wednesday, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit names Kari Lake, Trump’s special adviser overseeing the Agency for Global Media; and Victor Morales, the acting chief executive of the agency, as defendants.
“Waste, fraud and abuse run rampant in this agency, and American taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund it,” Ms. Lake said in a statement this month announcing her moves to shrink the outlets the Agency for Global Media oversees. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.