Kari Lake, special advisor to the federal parent agency overseeing Voice of America, said she was working to dismantle the news agency because it had published items like a graphic of "President Trump with a swastika over his face.

The lawsuit by the director and journalists is the latest legal challenge to the administration’s bid to dismantle the government-funded broadcaster.

Chinese state media are commending President Donald Trump’s move to disband Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded news organizations that broadcast to authoritarian regimes. The state-backed Global Times published an editorial Monday in which it called VOA a “lie factory” with an “appalling track record” when it comes to China-related reporting.