Kari Lake, President Trump’s top adviser to the U.S Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced Friday night that 532 positions were nixed at USAGM and Voice of America.
In a post on X, Lake said the layoffs were conducted at President Trump’s direction “to help reduce the federal bureaucracy, improve agency service, and save the American people more of their hard-earned money.”
The reduction in force of USAGM “will likely improve its ability to function and provide the truth to people across the world who live under murderous Communist governments and other tyrannical regimes,” Lake added. “I look forward to taking additional steps in the coming months to improve the functioning of a very broken agency and make sure America’s voice is heard abroad where it matters most.”
A Thursday court document shows that Lake planned to lay off 46 USAGM employees and 486 VOA employees, and planned to keep 158 USAGM employees and 108 VOA employees.
Lake’s announcement comes on the heels of a federal judge barring the Trump administration from removing VOA’s director, Michael Abramowitz, from his post. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth‘s Thursday ruling states that Abramowitz, who was told he would be “subject to termination” starting Aug. 31, can only be removed from his position as director by a majority vote of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.
The ruling dealt a blow to Lake and the Trump administration, which has been seeking to transform the English-language broadcaster into an “America First” outlet. The administration has been working to shrink VOA over recent months, including initiating similar large-scale layoffs in June, which were rescinded a week later.
Paula Hickey, the president of the union that represents VOA employees, pushed back on the layoffs in a statement to the New York Times, saying “the manner in which they are being executed reveals the contempt this administration has for federal employees and the rule of law.”
