By any normal standard, Monday’s filing from Voice of America (VOA) Director Michael Abramowitz—alleging the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is trying to fire him illegally—should have been a Beltway bombshell. Instead, it barely rippled the news cycle. That’s convenient for the people who prefer the U.S. government’s vast international broadcasting complex to remain a black box, opaque, unaccountable, and—most importantly—under their control.

I remember the last time a VOA director was shown the door. On January 20, 2021, less than two hours after Joe Biden took office, Robert Reilly told me over the phone, “The guards are escorting me out of the building right now.” That same day, the new administration swept out Trump appointees across the USAGM—VOA, RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN—leadership, included—and dissolved boards on the spot. Media outlets applauded, framing it as a restoration of “experienced journalists.” The subtext was unmistakable: the right people were back in charge.

Here’s the problem. “Back in charge” at VOA under Biden did not mean neutral, mission-driven journalism beamed to the world. It meant a taxpayer-funded megaphone that echoed the ruling party’s priorities while targeting Donald Trump and his voters. Programming celebrated progressive policies, blurred the line between reporting and advocacy on immigration, and, in multiple languages, provided content that critics say veered into how-to guides for navigating U.S. benefits. When your transmitter reaches 45 language services, the line between domestic influence and foreign broadcasting doesn’t just blur—it disappears.

At the center of the current drama is Michael Abramowitz, a former Washington Post editor tapped by then–USAGM chief Amanda Bennett. To Trump supporters, Abramowitz represents continuity with Washington’s media-political nexus; to his defenders, he’s a credentialed professional trying to keep politics out. Both can be true in Washington—and that’s precisely why the structure matters more than the personality.

Donald Trump understood VOA’s strategic value. After his 2024 victory, he named Kari Lake, an experienced broadcaster, to lead VOA and redirect it to its core mission: telling America’s story credibly, not carrying any administration’s water. Instead, she ran headlong into a new maze of “reforms” installed during Biden’s tenure. Agency directors could no longer be removed by the CEO; ultimate authority now rested with a seven-member International Broadcasting Advisory Board (including the Secretary of State), whose members meet sporadically and require Senate confirmation—a process famous for taking forever when the minority decides it should. Another tweak eliminated the ability to appoint an interim CEO; the VOA director—inevitably a holdover—would automatically act in the role.

Translation: permanent government beats elected government every time.

This wasn’t a policy debate about programming standards. It was a procedural encirclement—belt-and-suspenders bureaucracy designed to outlast elections. If you think that’s too cynical, ask Michael Pack, Trump’s first-term USAGM nominee, who waited three and a half years for confirmation. Or ask Kari Lake, who arrived in Washington prepared to lead VOA and discovered she first had to run the gauntlet of a never-ending confirmation calendar.

Trump adjusted. If the front door was barricaded, he’d use a side entrance—naming Lake a special adviser with a mandate to unwind a “defunct” agency (Hillary Clinton’s word, not his). That move triggered the present standoff with Abramowitz, who, according to staff accounts and his own legal filing, decided he would not step aside, would not facilitate reforms, and would instead force a legal-political confrontation that keeps the old machine humming.

This is not a small fight. USAGM’s $1-billion apparatus shapes how hundreds of millions abroad understand America. If it becomes a domestically resonant propaganda arm—soft power turned inward—then we’ve crossed a line the charter was designed to prevent. And suppose its leadership can be insulated from electoral accountability by clever rule changes and Senate slow-walking. In that case, the “administrative state” has discovered yet another pressure point where it can outlast voters.

The fix is simple in principle: restore electoral accountability while preserving the VOA Charter’s editorial independence, set firm timelines for Senate confirmation so nominations can’t be buried by delay, and re-center VOA on its core mission of telling America’s story abroad—measured annually by independent audits. Elections must have operational consequences, and the public should be able to see if the agency is living up to its mandate.

Critics will object that giving a president more control risks politicizing coverage. That objection arrives decades too late. The choice isn’t between politicization and purity; it’s between politicization hidden inside an unaccountable bureaucracy and politicization constrained by law, sunlight, and elections. I’ll take the latter.

Abramowitz’s lawsuit is not the story—it’s the symptom. The disease is a governing class that prefers to win by rule change rather than persuasion. If the people cannot change the direction of their own government media through the ballot box, then the “deep state” isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s a workflow.

Kari Lake promised to make VOA programming fairer, sharper, and more recognizably American. Let her try—or defeat her vision in the open, not by burying it in process. Sunlight, not stalemate, is the real test of confidence. If USAGM’s defenders believe in their product, they should welcome both.

Sasha Gong is the former director of the Voice of America,  China Branch.