Trump targets libraries and state-funded media firms amid Voice of America’s workers minimize
The Trump administration continued its gutting of the federal government on Saturday as it began making significant cuts to Voice of America and other state-operated programming supportive of democratic ideals.
As Congress passed government funding on Friday night, Trump ordered the administration to cut back the functions of a number of agencies as much as possible in accordance with the law. One of the affected institutions was the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, as well as Radio Marti, which broadcasts news in Spanish in Cuba.
In an executive order signed late on Friday, Trump eviscerated a number of smaller offices and agencies that do everything from battling homelessness to funding libraries.
The order stated that the agencies and offices will see their federal grants reviewed. The grants will be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
Trump has criticized Voice of America since his first term in office. Supporters have argued that Radio Free Asia has been a significant tool to fight Chinese propaganda.
Notices went out to Voice of America staff placing them on administrative leave on Saturday morning. Kari Lake, the losing Republican Arizona senate and gubernatorial nominee named by Trump as an advisor to the agency, wrote on X that staff should check their email.
Later, Reporters Without Borders said the notices extended to everyone who works for VOA.
The advocacy group said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the U.S.’s historic role as a defender of free information and calls on the U.S. government to restore VOA and urges Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move.”
The agency also sent out notices ending grants to Radio Free Asia and other broadcasting projects operated by the agency. Voice of America reports on U.S. domestic news into other countries, often in local languages.
Radio Free Asia, Europe, and Marti broadcast news into authoritarian countries such as China, North Korea, and Russia. The networks are estimated to have an audience of 427 million people. Their efforts began during the Cold War and they’re part of a group of state-backed organizations attempting to develop American power and fight authoritarianism. One such organization targeted by Trump is the U.S. Agency for International Development.
During Trump’s initial weeks back in the White House, he has made it a habit of targeting departments and agencies chartered by Congress, which passed legislation in 2020 restricting the power of the Agency for Global Media’s executives, who are appointed by the president. Trump has enacted measures to gut programs mandated by Congress, which may lead to a showdown at the Supreme Court regarding the extent of presidential authority.
Trump also took aim at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency that supports libraries, archives, and museums in all U.S. states.
The order also pushes for cutbacks in a number of other agencies, including the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank, as well as the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
Source: independent.co.uk
