Almost 640 employees at Voice of America and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) have been fired, according to USAGM senior adviser Kari Lake.
“Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a long-overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy,” said Lake. “For decades, American taxpayers have been forced to bankroll an agency that’s been riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste. That ends now.”
There has been an 85 percent reduction in the workforce, or an elimination of almost 1,400 roles, since March. There are 250 positions remaining at USAGM, VOA, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting altogether. All of the latter office’s 33 employees will keep their jobs.
“The agency now operates near the statutory minimum; lean and focused. This is a clear example of responsible government, cutting waste, restoring accountability, and delivering on the promise to put American taxpayers first,” Lake said. “I look forward to working with Congress and the Department of State to make sure the future of telling America’s story is modernized, effective, and aligns with America’s foreign policy.”
Earlier this month, Lake informed Congress that “the non-statutory components and functions of [the USAGM] shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” and that “USAGM shall reduce the performance of its ’statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.'”
Along with the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and VOA, USAGM—which was founded in 1953 to spread pro-Western content to communist countries amid the Cold War—oversees the Open Technology Fund, the Middle Eastern Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Liberty.
