Trump Plan Fires Just About All Remain VOA Staffers

The Trump administration has proposed a significant restructuring of Voice of America (VOA), a federally funded news network established in 1942 to provide independent journalism to countries with limited press freedom.

The plan, outlined in a letter this week, and signed by Kari Lake, a senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VOA’s parent organization, would reduce VOA’s workforce from approximately 1,400 journalists and administrative staff to just 18 employees. 

This follows earlier layoffs in May 2025, where nearly 600 contractors—about a third of VOA’s staff—were terminated, despite a federal judge’s April 2025 order to restore news programming as mandated by Congress.

The proposed cuts are inline witgh  President Trump’s March 14, 2025, executive order to reduce the federal workforce and eliminate non-statutory functions of agencies like USAGM. Trump and allies, including Lake, have criticized VOA, labeling it “the voice of radical America” and accusing it of spreading “anti-American” propaganda, claims made without evidence. Lake has described USAGM as “unsalvageable” and cited “waste, fraud, and abuse” as justification for the cuts. 

The plan would eliminate most news services, previously broadcast in 49 languages to nearly 100 countries, reaching over 350 million people weekly until VOA went offline on March 15, 2025.

VOA employees and press freedom advocates have resisted these changes, filing lawsuits arguing the cuts violate the First Amendment and congressional mandates. A federal judge’s April 2025 injunction briefly restored some operations, but a May 3, 2025, appeals court decision, backed by Trump-appointed judges, allowed the administration to proceed with layoffs and funding cuts, undermining efforts to reinstate staff. Among those affected are J-1 visa holders, who face deportation within 30 days of termination, with some at risk of arrest in their home countries due to their VOA reporting.