In a sweeping move that has drawn widespread criticism, President Donald Trump’s administration has terminated the employment of hundreds of Voice of America (VOA) journalists, effectively dismantling one of the United States’ most prominent international news outlets.
The mass layoffs, announced Friday, affected 639 employees — including most of VOA’s remaining staff — and follow earlier waves of cuts that have left more than 85% of the agency’s workforce jobless since March. Established in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA has long been considered a pillar of U.S. public diplomacy and press freedom abroad.
Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, described the firings as a “historic act of self-sabotage,” noting the agency’s critical role in delivering independent journalism to audiences in repressive regimes around the world.
Among those dismissed were Persian-language reporters, who had recently been recalled from administrative leave in the wake of Israel’s attacks on Iran. According to the Associated Press, some of these journalists were denied re-entry into VOA’s headquarters after leaving briefly for a cigarette break on Friday, learning only then that they had been fired.
Kari Lake, appointed by President Trump to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, justified the cuts as necessary to “effectuate President Trump’s agenda to shrink the out-of-control federal bureaucracy.” In her statement, she cited “dysfunction, bias, and waste” within the agency as the reason for the overhaul.
Only 50 employees are expected to remain across VOA, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and other USAGM divisions.
A statement issued by three VOA journalists involved in a lawsuit to halt the network’s dismantling condemned the move: “It spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world.”
The firings follow Trump’s March directive to eliminate VOA and its parent agency “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The administration has also pushed to defund other publicly funded media institutions, including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
While critics have decried the decision as an assault on press freedom, Trump and his allies have long claimed that VOA operates with a partisan bias. Dan Robinson, a former VOA correspondent, previously described the network as “a hubris-filled rogue operation” in an op-ed, accusing it of reflecting a left-leaning agenda.
The future of VOA and its sister agencies remains uncertain, but observers warn the closures could leave a vacuum in global information flow—particularly in countries where press freedom is under threat.
