On Friday, the Trump administration initiated sweeping layoffs across Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded international media outlets, pressing forward with a controversial overhaul that has sparked legal challenges and bipartisan concern.
Kari Lake, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and recently appointed to a top position at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, defended sweeping layoffs at the agency as a necessary overhaul of what she described as an “overgrown and unaccountable bureaucracy.”
In a statement, Lake emphasized her commitment to working closely with both the State Department and Congress to ensure that U.S. international broadcasting becomes more “modern, efficient, and aligned with America’s foreign policy interests.”
The mass dismissals follow a presidential order signed by Trump in March that effectively froze Voice of America (VOA) operations for the first time since its inception in 1942. On Friday, termination notices were distributed to 639 employees—this after prior rounds of contractor dismissals and offers of voluntary exit packages.
Lake disclosed that the workforce has been slashed from roughly 1,400 positions to just 250. Among those laid off were members of VOA’s Persian-language service, who had only recently resumed duties in the wake of heightened tensions and military actions between Israel and Iran.
Employees have filed a lawsuit challenging Lake’s actions, which come even though Congress had already appropriated funding.
The mass firing decision “spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds the US ideals of democracy and freedom around the world,” the three plaintiffs wrote in a statement.
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“Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the information space with anti-American propaganda. Do not cede this ground by silencing America’s voice,” said the three complainants, Patsy Widakuswara, Jessica Jerreat and Kate Neeper.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the “decimation of US broadcasting leaves authoritarian propaganda unchecked by US backed independent media and is a perversion of the law and congressional intent.”
“It is a dark day for the truth,” she wrote on X.
Former President Donald Trump has often expressed disdain for major media organizations and has openly criticized the editorial independence of Voice of America (VOA), dismissing its protected status as an unnecessary barrier—especially when its reporting appeared unfavorable to his administration.
Despite sweeping budget cuts during his tenure, one notable exception was Radio Marti, the U.S.-funded broadcaster aimed at Cuban audiences. Its continued operation has largely been attributed to backing from influential anti-communist Cuban-American lawmakers within the Republican Party.
Other U.S.-government-supported media outlets—such as Radio Free Asia, established to serve nations across Asia lacking press freedom—have seen operations scaled back significantly. Similarly, Radio Free Europe, a Cold War-era platform once instrumental in providing uncensored news to Soviet bloc countries, remains active, in part due to financial support from the Czech government.