In this June 15, 2020, file photo, the Voice of America building stands in Washington.
Andrew Harnik | AP
Employees at Voice of America were placed on paid leave on Saturday and funding for two U.S. news services that broadcast to authoritarian regimes was slashed, one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-funded media outlets’ parent and six other federal agencies.
Multiple workers at Voice of America, an international media broadcaster that operates in more than 40 languages, shared with Reuters an email that placed them on administrative leave with full pay and benefits “until otherwise notified.”
The emails, sent by a human resources executive at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the VOA’s parent agency, instructed them not to enter their work premises or access internal systems.
It was not immediately clear how many employees were placed on leave.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) also terminated funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as for Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea, according to letters seen by Reuters.
On its website, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty notes that it has been declared an “undesirable organization” by the Russian government and warns readers in Russia and Russia-occupied Ukraine that they could “face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.”
The move follows Trump signing an executive order on Friday instructing USAGM and six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the bare minimum mandated by the law, saying it was necessary to shrink bureaucracy.
Trump, who clashed with the Voice of America during his first term, picked former news anchor Kari Lake to be its director for his second term. Lake, a staunch ally of the president, has often accused mainstream media of harboring anti-Trump bias.
In a message on the social media platform X on Saturday, Lake said Trump’s order impacted USAGM “and its outlets VOA and OCB,” referring to the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. She told employees of the agency to check their emails immediately.
Free press advocates critical
The president of the National Press Club in Washington, Mike Balsamo, released a statement on social media objecting to the moves at Voice of America.
“For decades, Voice of America has delivered fact-based, independent journalism to audiences worldwide, often in places where press freedom does not exist,” Balsamo said.
The decision, he said, “undermines America’s commitment to a free and independent press.”
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also blasted the move, with its director general, Thibaut Bruttin, saying that it “threatens press freedom worldwide and negates 80 years of American history in supporting a free flow of information.”
Some Republicans have accused VOA and other publicly-funded media outlets of being biased against conservatives. Last month, billionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading Trump’s government downsizing effort, called for VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to be shut down in a post to his X social media platform.
In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Lake said that while she understood calls to completely dismantle VOA, she believed it could be improved.
In addition to USAGM, Trump’s order also targeted the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency for cuts.
The order said those agencies should eliminate all operations not codified in statute as well as “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”
So far, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has produced potential cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian workforce, the freezing of foreign aid, and the cancellation of thousands of programs and contracts.
On Friday, several DOGE employees arrived at the United States Institute of Peace, accompanied by two FBI agents, according to Gonzo Gallegos, the institute’s communications director. They left after a brief discussion about the institute’s status.
The institute is not part of the federal executive branch, but is instead an independent, non-profit agency that was established by Congress in 1984.
