Hundreds at Voice of America and parent company to lose jobs

More than 500 employees at the agency that runs Voice of America (VOA) and other US government-funded international broadcasters will lose their jobs, a Trump administration official announced.

Kari Lake, the acting CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), took to the X social media platform to announce further job cuts for VOA.

"The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has initiated what is known as a reduction in force (RIF) of a large number of its full-time federal employees," Lake wrote on X.

"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."

The move comes despite a federal judge stopping Lake from firing Michael Abramowitz as VOA director, saying his removal would be "plainly contrary to law."

Furthermore, earlier in the week, US District Judge Royce Lamberth also separately ruled President Donald Trump's administration had yet to show it was complying with orders to restore VOA's operations.

His order on Monday gave the administration "one final opportunity, short of a contempt trial" to comply and ordered Lake sit for a deposition by lawyers for agency employees by September 15.

A group of agency employees who have sued to block VOA's elimination condemned the latest move by Lake.

"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."

Republican administration targeting media

In January, when Trump returned to office, he ordered the withdrawal of federal funds and the paring down of the international broadcaster Voice of America to the minimum allowed by Congress.

The latest set of layoffs, which would affect 532 employees, aims to follow Trump's order "to help reduce federal bureaucracy, improve agency services and save the American people more of their hard-earned money," an official said.

USAGM oversees six entities, which, alongside VOA, include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Marti.

The networks date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of US government-funded organizations that sought to extend the country's influence and combat authoritarianism.