Journalists with Voice of America have partnered with multiple press freedom groups to file a new lawsuit over what they say is the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to turn the independent, taxpayer-funded media organization into the government’s propaganda outlet.

The lawsuit filed Monday accuses the United States Agency for Global Media – which oversees VOA – and its leaders of trying to turn the newsroom “into a partisan mouthpiece” for the Trump administration, “requiring that it publish White House talking points nearly word-for-word, and disseminating images of President Trump in the style of Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il.”

“Censorship and propaganda are two sides of the same coin,” the lawsuit states. “All of this violates the federal statutes that govern VOA, and the Constitution itself; and all of this undermines the credibility of the United States in the eyes of the world.”

A USAGM spokesperson said Monday that VOA’s broadcasting must reflect U.S. policy, neglecting to mention the outlet’s legally required independence. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s follow-up question about whether USAGM’s leaders are choosing to ignore the statutory firewall.

Trump ally Kari Lake served as acting head of USAGM until March 7, when a court ruled her appointment and actions legally void. Lake and acting CEO Michael Rigas are also named in Monday’s complaint for allegedly censoring much of VOA’s reporting.

U.S. Agency For Global Media official Kari Lake holds up a photo of the Voice of America newsroom while testifying at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the future of USAGM, in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

On March 17, a federal judge shut down the Trump administration’s efforts to get rid of the agency and ordered VOA’s full reinstatement, stressing that Congress legally requires the newsroom to be editorially independent and free from political interference.

“Frustrated in that effort by the courts, the Administration has now taken a different tack: to use its governmental authority to control VOA’s substantive output – the content of its broadcasts and publications – by suppressing coverage of events that it wishes had not occurred, and, separately, by directing that its own partisan messages be passed off to viewers and listeners as ‘news,’” Monday’s lawsuit states.

A major example of this interference, the suing journalists argue, is in VOA’s coverage of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. According to the complaint, the administration has prevented VOA’s Persian Service from reporting uncomfortable facts on Iran, like opposition movements, deaths caused by the U.S. and important perspectives from world leaders.

Lake essentially confirmed the allegations over VOA’s Iran coverage earlier this month, posting on X that USAGM had “worked hard over the past year to realign coverage with U.S. foreign policy.”

“Through VOA’s journalism, those living in authoritarian societies get a taste of democracy. They learn that those in power should be held accountable,” VOA journalists Barry Newhouse, Ayesha Tanzeem, Don Hyuk Lee and Ksenia Turkova said in a joint statement. “Without editorial independence, VOA will be no different than government mouthpieces they are used to in their own countries.”