Layoff notices served to hundreds of Voice of America and USAGM employees News
Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Layoff notices served to hundreds of Voice of America and USAGM employees

A layoff notice was served to 639 employees at Voice of America and its parent organisation, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), on Friday.

The announcement brought the total number of employees eliminated at Voice of America and the US Agency for Global Media to 1400, which is an 85 percent reduction in personnel since March 2025, when President Trump signed his Executive Order on Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. Some 250 employees remain across USAGM, Voice of America, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, following the latest round of lay-offs.

In her statement, the Trump Administration’s senior advisor, Kari Lake, said that the latest move is “a clear example of responsible government” as it is “cutting waste, restoring accountability, and delivering on the promise to put American taxpayers first”.

Plaintiffs Jessica Jerreat, Kate Neeper and Patsy Widakuswara, who were involved in the case Widakuswara v. Lake, said in a statement that the layoff “spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world”.

Voice of America was created in 1942 during the Second World War and has since been vital for projecting American values to audiences around the world. However, in March 2025, the White House published a statement describing the news agency as “propaganda” and dubbing it “The Voice of Radical America”.

Since coming to power, President Trump has attacked the media on many occasions. In May, the Uyghur language service of Radio Free Asia was shut down, which has been reporting on news related to the ethnic Turkic people in China’s Xinjiang region. Amnesty International condemned President Trump’s defunding of global media, saying that it leaves human rights violations unchecked. In May, Trump signed an executive order to cease federal funding for public broadcasters National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).

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