Donald Trump orders major staff cuts at Voice of America, US-funded media
ByHT News Desk
Mar 16, 2025 08:37 AM IST
Donald Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law.
US President Donald Trump ordered on Saturday cuts in the staff of various government-funded media organisations, including Voice of America as his administration continues on the path of downsizing the federal workforce.
US President Donald Trump's bid to downsize the federal workforce continues.(AFP)
US President Donald Trump's bid to downsize the federal workforce continues.(AFP)
Voice Of America’s director revealed that all of the organisation’s employees have been put on leave.
Shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill to avert a government shutdown on Friday, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.
Kari Lake, Trump's senior adviser to the agency, posted on X on Saturday that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.
“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Associated Press quoted Agency for Global Media director Michael Abramowitz as saying in a statement.
Abramowitz added that “virtually” the entire 1300-person staff was placed on leave.
“VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America's story and by providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny," the statement added.
A video posted on X by Lake on Saturday talked about cost-cutting measures, not mentioning the employees and the mission of Voice of America. Her video was made at a building leased by VOA that Lake described as a waste of money. She said she would try to break the agency's 15-year lease on the building.
“We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save more, downsize, and make sure there's no misuse of your dollars,” she said.
The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the US’s historic role as a defender of free information and calls on the US government to restore VOA and urges Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move.”
The Agency for Global Media also sent notices terminating grants to Radio Free Asia and other programming run by the agency. “The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies," said the network's President and CEO, Stephen Capus, in a statement.
What does the Agency for Global Media do?
The Agency for Global Media is considered to be an arm of US diplomacy, running media organisations like Voice of America that transmits the country's domestic news to other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Europe, and Marti beam news into countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions like China, North Korea, and Russia.
Combined, the networks reach an estimated 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organizations trying to extend US influence and combat authoritarianism that includes USAID, another agency targeted by Trump.
The reduction is a dramatic blow at a staple of post-Cold War order that has long had bipartisan support. Voice of America's directors have included Dick Carlson, the father of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Thomas Kent, former president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said that Trump’s intentions for the agencies are still foggy. Without these news sources, it will be that much harder for the country to get its messages to the world, he said.
“Without the international broadcasting, the image of the United States and the Trump administration will be in the hands of others, including the administration’s opponents, (and) countries and people who consider the United States an enemy,” AP quoted Kent, an international consultant on media ethics, as saying.
The order putting employees on administrative leave also states that the staff would continue to receive pay and benefits “until otherwise notified.” It ordered employees not to use Agency for Global Media facilities and to return equipment like phones and computers.
The Trump administration has already made other steps to assert its authority over Voice of America, and this week canceled contracts that allowed VOA to use material from various independent news organisations.
Trump's order requiring reductions also includes several other, lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
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