US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.
On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, 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.
Photo: Bloomberg
On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior adviser to the agency, wrote on X that employees should check their e-mail. That coincided with notices going out placing VOA staff on paid administrative leave.
“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” VOA director Michael Abramowitz said in a statement. He added that “virtually” the entire 1,300-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,” Abramowitz said.
One reporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said: “We expected something like this to happen, and it just happened to be today.”
The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the US’ 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. Voice of America transmits US domestic news to other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Europe and Marti beam news into countries with authoritarian regimes in regions such as China, North Korea and Russia.
“The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies,” the network’s president and chief executive officer Stephen Capus said in a statement.
Combined, the networks reach an estimated 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of US government-funded organizations trying to extend US influence and combat authoritarianism that includes US Agency for International Development, 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 chief executive officer of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said that Trump’s intentions for the agencies are still foggy.
Without these news sources, it would 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,” said Kent, an international consultant on media ethics.
A video posted on X by Lake on Saturday talked about cost-cutting measures, not mentioning the employees and the mission of VOA. 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 letter places employees on administrative leave and says 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 such as phones and computers.
The Trump administration has already made other steps to assert its authority over VOA, and this week canceled contracts that allowed VOA to use material from independent news organizations, such as The Associated Press.
The administration has also banned the AP from press pools that cover the president and moved to take charge of what news organizations are members of the pools, and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating news organizations such as CBS.
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 US Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
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