Hundreds of federal employees at Voice of America received termination notices on 20 June, reducing the news organization’s staff to fewer than 200 workers from approximately 1,400 at the start of 2025.

The layoffs place affected journalists and support staff on paid leave until their official termination date of 1 September, according to the New York Times.

In March, Trump criticized Voice of America for allegedly spreading what he characterized as “anti-American” and partisan “propaganda,” referring to the organization as “the voice of radical America.”

The executive order effectively mandated the dismantling of the news agency and placed nearly all Voice of America reporters on paid leave, halting news operations for the first time since the organization’s 1942 founding.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration in April to restore Voice of America and other government-funded news agencies so they could “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news” globally. However, government officials appealed the decision. On 1 May, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia temporarily halted previous court rulings that had sought to lift the freeze on funds in order to consider emergency requests from the Justice Department.

Kari Lake, a senior adviser at the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, informed Congress earlier this month of plans to eliminate most positions at the news organization. Her correspondence identified fewer than 20 employees who must remain at the media organization under laws passed by Congress to establish and fund it. 

Lake defended her actions, describing Voice of America as “a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy” and attributing the termination of 639 employees at her agency to efforts to eliminate “dysfunction, bias and waste.”

She stated: “I’m proud to carry out President Trump’s executive order and deliver results that put America first.”

Patsy Widakuswara, a former Voice of America White House bureau chief who received a termination notice, stated that Lake’s decision “spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds US ideals of democracy and freedom around the world.” Widakuswara is leading a lawsuit against Lake and the US Agency for Global Media.

She called on Congress to intervene and support Voice of America, which was established to counter Nazi propaganda and has reported from countries that restrict independent journalism and free speech.

“Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the global information space with anti-America propaganda,” Widakuswara said. “Do not cede this ground by silencing America’s voice.”