President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with a press advocacy group saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.
On Friday night, shortly after 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 U.S. Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.
On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior adviser to the agency, posted on X that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.
Later, Reporters Without Borders said the notices extended to everyone who works for VOA. One reporter, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said everyone at the company in an online discussion group reported getting the same letter.
“We expected something like this to happen,” the reporter said, “and it just happened to be today.”
Reporters Without Borders said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the U.S.’s historic role as a defender of free information and calls on the U.S. 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 United States domestic news into 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 U.S. influence and combat authoritarianism that includes USAID, another agency targeted by Trump.
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,” 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 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 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 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 cancelled 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 FCC is investigating news organizations like 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 United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
