Trump moves to cut Voice of America staff despite legal challenges

The agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA) and other US-funded international broadcasters is eliminating more than 500 positions, escalating an ongoing legal battle over the future of the outlets.

Acting CEO Kari Lake of the US Agency for Global Media announced late Friday that 532 full-time government jobs would be cut through a reduction in force. The move came a day after a federal judge blocked her attempt to remove Michael Abramowitz as VOA director.

Earlier this week, US District Judge Royce Lamberth warned the administration it faced a contempt trial if it failed to comply with his orders to restore VOA’s operations. He ruled that Abramowitz cannot be removed without approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, calling any such move “plainly contrary to law.”

Lake defended the job cuts, saying they would strengthen the agency’s operations. “We will continue to fulfill our statutory mission after this RIF — and will likely improve our ability to function,” she said in a statement.

Employees who sued to prevent VOA’s closure said the layoffs give affected staff just 30 days before losing pay and benefits, intensifying tensions between agency leadership and the workforce.

“We find Lake’s continued attacks on our agency abhorrent,” they said in a statement. “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. So far we have not seen any evidence of that.” In June, layoff notices were sent to more than 600 agency employees. Abramowitz was placed on administrative leave along with almost the entire VOA staff. He was told he would be fired effective August 31.

The administration said in a court filing Thursday that it planned to send RIF notices to 486 employees of VOA and 46 other agency employees but intended to retain 158 agency employees and 108 VOA employees.

The filing said the global media agency had 137 “active employees” and 62 other employees on administrative leave while VOA had 86 active employees and 512 others administrative leave.

The agency also houses Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. The networks, which together reach an estimated 427 million people, date to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organisations trying to extend US influence and combat authoritarianism.

With inputs from agencies