Kari Lake cuts over 600 more staffers at Voice of America parent

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The U.S. Agency for Global Media handed out layoff notices to 639 employees on June 20, 2025, culminating a months-long process aimed at effectively shuttering the agency and its flagship offering, Voice of America.
The cuts, which have been a key talking point of not only the GOP but also Donald Trump and his former news anchor adviser Kari Lake, come after putting nearly all employees on leave back in March 2025. USAGM also cut ties with around 500 contract workers in May 2025.
Employees were told their roles would be eliminated effective Sept. 1, 2025.
Combined, Lake said that 85% of the pre-Trump staffing level at USAGM have been cut. The agency had counted around 1,400 positions, including contractors, before the cuts began.
Most of the agency’s services have been largely silent for months following Lake’s moves, which align with an executive order Trump signed in March.
It appears the goal is to reduce USAGM’s workforce to the bare minimum required by law, which would effectively render it unable to produce any significant amount of content.
However, the Trump team appears to be willing to fund specific efforts by the agency.
Earlier in June, Lake recalled staffers to return to work and help operate the Persian service of Voice of America to help cover the rising conflicts between Iran and Israel in Farsi, a language widely spoken in Iran.
“Farsi language is a statutorily required for USAGM (sic),” Lake said at the time before excitedly proclaiming the staffers were helping cover a “historic moment in Iran.” About 75 staffers returned to work.
By offering content in Farsi, Lake appears to be framing the move as her way of carrying out one of VOA’s primary goals — to help spread messaging that supports U.S. efforts to spread democracy around the world.
However, the move garnered criticism after some pointed out that having ad-hoc broadcasting pop whenever it is convenient for Trump inherently creates concerns over bias.
It’s not clear if the agency will continue to offer “pop-up” broadcasts whenever the need arises or how those may be staffed. It is possible the government could simply hire contractors on an as-needed basis.
This could, at least in theory, help appease opponents of the USAGM, who frequently criticize what they call the agency’s “bloated” payroll. However, it’s not clear how operating a largely on-demand workforce, if that ends up being the plan, might affect the quality of content.
Lake previously announced a deal, which appeared to be largely designed as a headline-grabbing scheme, with far-right outlet OAN. However, the federal government, including Lake, cannot directly control the content — as scaled back as it might be — of the various USAGM services, so the agreement appears to have little practical effect, something Lake acknowledged in the announcement.
USAGM, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, have long been targets of Republican lawmakers, who often cite them as being biased. In recent years, the rise of MAGA has pushed their rhetoric even farther, with some labeling the content as “propaganda.”
The CPB, like USAGM, received federal funding, but its content is developed independently of any government oversight. CPB plays a key role in funding PBS and NPR.
Trump originally announced Lake as head of VOA. However, he was not legally able to make such an appointment so she was made a “senior adviser,” and has since largely focused on VOA and USAGM.
Lake, who had previously been a news anchor in Arizona, unsuccessfully ran for governor of the state in 2022. After her defeat, she refused to concede and began a legal battle to attempt to reverse the results of the election, making multiple unfounded claims about various issues with the election.
She then ran for the U.S. Senate in 2024, losing that race as well.
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tags
Kari Lake, U.S. Agency for Global Media, Voice of America
categories
Broadcast Business News, Featured