The Trump administration is firing more than 500 employees of Voice of America (VOA) and other US government-funded international broadcasters in an effort to reduce the burden on the government and downsize the company’s staff, which is funded directly by the state.
The acting CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake, announced the job cuts on the social media platform X.
Lake wrote on X, "The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has initiated what is known as a reduction in force (RIF) of a large number of its full-time federal employees.”
He said, “I would plan certain steps in the near future to improve the overall functioning of this broken agency and make sure it is heard where it matters.”
The move was announced despite a federal judge ruling against the dismissal of staff at Voice of America and its parent company.
Voice of America has come under the Trump administration’s radar after its repeated criticism of certain policies pursued by the US government, including deportations, visa bans and trade tariffs.
Meanwhile, a group of agency employees who have sued to block VOA’s elimination condemned the latest move by Lake.
In a statement on Sunday, they said, "We find Lake's continued attacks on our agency abhorrent.”
"We are looking forward to her deposition to hear whether her plan to dismantle VOA was done with the rigorous review process that Congress requires,” they added.
Trump’s return to the White House in January saw massive funding cuts and a pruning down of the international broadcaster Voice of America to the minimum allowed by Congress.
The latest round of layoffs, which will affect 532 employees, is aimed at reducing bureaucracy and improving services while saving US taxpayers’ money, officials said.
Meanwhile, USAGM oversees six entities, which, alongside VOA, include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Martí.
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