More than 500 employees at the agency that manages the Voice of America and other international broadcasters funded by the US government will lose their jobs, a Trump administration official announced.
Kari Lake, acting executive director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced further job cuts at VOA on the social media platform X.
“The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has initiated what is known as a reduction in personnel (RIF) of a large number of its full-time federal employees,” Lake wrote in X.
"I look forward to taking additional steps in the coming months to improve the functioning of a much-deteriorated agency and ensure that the Voice of America is heard abroad, where it matters most," she added.
The move comes despite a federal judge blocking Lake from removing Michael Abramowitz from his position as VOA director, saying his dismissal would be "simply contrary to the law."
Additionally, earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ruled separately that President Donald Trump's administration had not yet demonstrated that it was complying with the rulings to resume work at the Voice of America.
In Monday's ruling, he gave the administration "one last chance, just before a contempt of court trial," to comply and ordered Lake to appear by Sept. 15 for a sworn statement before attorneys for the agency's employees.
A group of agency employees who have filed a lawsuit to block the elimination of VOA condemned Lake's latest action.
“We find Lake’s continued attacks on our agency repugnant. We look forward to her testimony to learn whether her plan to dismantle the Voice of America has been implemented with the rigorous review process required by Congress,” they said in a statement. In January, when Trump returned to office, he ordered a freeze on federal funding and cuts to the international broadcaster Voice of America to the minimum allowed by Congress.
The latest round of layoffs, affecting 532 employees, is intended to fulfill Trump's directive to "help reduce federal bureaucracy, improve agency services and save the American people more of their hard-earned money," one official said.
USAGM oversees six institutions that, along with VOA, include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Radio Martí.
These networks date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of organizations funded by the US government, whose goal is to expand US influence and fight authoritarianism./ DW
