In setback for Trump, Voice of America employees get return-to-work messages
Less than two months ago, when the Trump administration turned off the Voice of America's networks and websites, Kari Lake, a fierce loyalist to President Donald Trump, said the agency is 'unsalvageable.'
Now, Lake is working on salvaging it, and VOA is about to come back online. 'We look forward to working with you all,' Lake wrote in a Friday night memo to the staffers she sidelined back in March.
Why the sudden change? A series of federal court rulings against the Trump administration's silencing of US-funded international broadcasters.
About 1,400 VOA employees and contractors at VOA and its parent agency, the US Agency for Global Media, now have access to their email accounts and other systems again, according to a Friday memo from the Justice Department.
Staffers will be allowed back to their offices beginning next week, and that's when VOA programming will resume, the memo stated.
The US Agency for Global Media did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
Voice of America is a government-funded entity that produces journalism and promotes democratic values outside the United States, countering foreign propaganda efforts by other countries.
Getting back online will be no small task. 'Bringing VOA out of a deep coma will require substantial time and a Herculean effort of our nearly 50 language services to try to reach some of our pre-shutdown total audience of 340 million,' VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman told CNN.
Herman pointed out that VOA readers and listeners were never 'given an explanation of why we were silenced.'
It happened abruptly on Saturday, March 15, after Trump — who had been critical of VOA for years — signed an executive order to drastically shrink the US Agency for Global Media and several other agencies.
VOA staffers were told to stop working in the middle of their shifts. Web producers were told to stop posting stories. Some VOA radio stations started to play music in lieu of news. The VOA home page has been frozen in time ever since, with old stories from that day.
Lake and her deputies also terminated the financial support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and other broadcasters that have historically relied on the government.
Those broadcasters tried to stay on the air and online in limited fashion, but as funds have run out, they have resorted to layoffs and other cost-cutting maneuvers.
At VOA, staffers have been stuck in a form of bureaucratic limbo. In April, some started to look for other work while others held out hope that the courts would intervene.
And on April 22, that's what Judge Royce C. Lamberth did; he said the administration was 'likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws' and ordered the administration to bring VOA staffers back to work.
It was just a preliminary injunction, though, and the administration immediately appealed, as it did when courts ruled in favor of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe.
On Thursday, an appeals court stayed, or paused, the rulings pertaining to those broadcasters, pending further review, but did not stay Lamberth's order about VOA. That's what apparently led to the return-to-work message on Friday night.
Some VOA staffers told CNN they are viewing the situation with skepticism, given the Trump administration's open hostility toward the network.
A Trumpian press release in March accused the US Agency for Global Media of 'massive national security violations,' 'obscene over-spending' and 'a product that often parrots the talking-points of America's adversaries.'
Lake, who was chosen by Trump to overhaul the operation, said she was happy to 'DOGE' herself 'out of a job.'
But Trump's original executive order referred to shrinking the agency down to what is 'statutorily required by law.'
And now that the courts have reaffirmed that Congress created and funded the international broadcasters, Lake has changed her tone.
'In the coming days you will be receiving guidance from management on next steps forward in modernizing the agency and meeting the mission,' Lake wrote Friday night.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
29 minutes ago
- UPI
Mahmoud Khalil offers declaration, describes damages to his life
June 6 (UPI) -- Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate detained by the Trump administration in March for deportation over his pro-Palestinian views, offered a public declaration that details what he's experienced since his arrest. In a case document filed Thursday, Khalil listed what he described as the "irreparable harms" he has suffered, which he claimed have affected several parts of his life that "include dignitary and reputational harm, personal and familial hardship, including constant fear for personal safety, continued detention, restrictions on my freedom of expression, and severe damage to my professional future." The declaration, which was made from inside the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, La., where Khalil has been held since March 9, puts focus on the birth of his son, which happened during his incarceration. "Instead of holding my wife's hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone." Khalil described. "I listened to her pain, trying to comfort her while 70 other men slept around me. When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep." Khalil described that the first time he saw his son was through a window, and the first time he held him was in an immigration courtroom, to which his wife had to travel ten hours to reach, with their newborn. "I speak to her as often as possible, but these conversations are not private, everything is monitored by the government," Khalil said, which makes it impossible for them to comfortably speak freely. "We leave so much unsaid, and that silence weighs heavily on both of us." Khalil said that not only has the situation been "devastating" for him, but that his wife has dealt with harassment since his arrest. Khalil further described the anguish of seeing Trump administration officials post statements and photos of him on social media that he purports as "accompanied by inflammatory language, grotesque and false accusations, and open celebration of my deportation." Khalil expressed concern for his future as well. He said he was hired by the nonprofit equality-focused Oxfam International group only days before his arrest as a Palestine and Middle East/ North Africa policy advisor, and was scheduled to start work in April, but the job offer was formally revoked. He says "I strongly believe" his arrest and continued detention is the reason for this. He added that should the charges against him stand, "the harm to my professional career would be career-ending." Khalil further worried his arrest would result in a lifetime of "being flagged, delayed, or denied when traveling, applying for visas, or engaging with consular authorities anywhere in the world," and not just him, but his wife and son. His mother had also applied for a visa in March to visit the United States to see their child be born, and although that was approved, the U.S. embassy returned her passport without a stamp, and now her case is under "administrative processing," and remains unapproved. Khalil's elderly father, whom he describes as "severely disabled," lives in Germany, and he ponders whether any country allied with the United States will ever grant him entry should the charges stand. Khalil detailed the allegations under which he has been held for deportation, which not only did he deny as testimony at his May immigration court hearing, at which he purports "The government attorneys did not ask me any questions regarding these issues." However, Khalil maintained his greatest concern of all is a determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio based on a law that an "alien" can be deported should his presence in the United States "have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences." "I understand that the Rubio Determination is not only a ground for deportation, but it is also a bar to entry," said Khalil. "In other words, no matter what happens to the other charge against me, it is the Rubio Determination that will make this country, the country of my wife and child, a country I cannot return to in the future."
San Francisco Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Points of Light, founded by the Bush family, aims to double American volunteerism by 2035
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Bush family's nonprofit Points of Light will lead an effort to double the number of people who volunteer with U.S. charitable organizations from 75 million annually to 150 million in 10 years. The ambitious goal, announced in New Orleans at the foundation's annual conference, which concluded Friday, would represent a major change in the way Americans spend their time and interact with nonprofits. It aspires to mobilize people to volunteer with nonprofits in the U.S. at a scale that only federal programs like AmeriCorps have in the past. It also coincides with deep federal funding cuts that threaten the financial stability of many nonprofits and with an effort to gut AmeriCorps programs, which sent 200,000 volunteers all over the country. A judge on Wednesday paused those cuts in some states, which had sued the Trump administration. Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO of Points of Light, said that while the campaign has been in development well before the federal cuts, the nonprofit's board members recently met and decided to move forward. 'What our board said was, 'We have to do it now. We have to put the stake in the ground now. It's more important than it was before the disruption of AmeriCorps,'' she said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said the nonprofit aims to raise and spend $100 million over the next three years to support the goal. Points of Light, which is based in Atlanta, was founded by President George H.W. Bush to champion his vision of volunteerism. It has carried on his tradition of giving out a daily award to a volunteer around the country, built a global network of volunteer organizations and cultivated corporate volunteer programs. Speaking Wednesday in New Orleans, Points of Light's board chair Neil Bush told the organization's annual conference that the capacity volunteers add to nonprofits will have a huge impact on communities. 'Our mission is to make volunteering and service easier, more impactful, more sustained," Bush said. "Because, let's be honest, the problems in our communities aren't going to fix themselves.' According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, the rate of participation has plateaued since 2002, with a noticeable dip during the pandemic. Susan M. Chambré, professor emerita at Baruch College who studied volunteering for decades, said Points of Light's goal of doubling the number of volunteers was admirable but unrealistic, given that volunteer rates have not varied significantly over time. But she said more research is needed into what motivates volunteers, which would give insight into how to recruit people. She also said volunteering has become more transactional over time, directed by staff as opposed to organized by volunteers themselves. In making its case for increasing volunteer participation in a recent report, Points of Light drew on research from nonprofits like Independent Sector, the National Alliance for Volunteer Engagement and the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland. Sirangelo said they want to better measure the impact volunteers make, not just the hours they put in, for example. They also see a major role for technology to better connect potential volunteers to opportunities, though they acknowledge that many have tried to do that through apps and online platforms. Reaching young people will also be a major part of accomplishing this increase in volunteer participation. Sirangelo said she's observed that many young people who do want to participate are founding their own nonprofits rather than joining an existing one. 'We're not welcoming them to our institutions, so they have to go found something,' she said. 'That dynamic has to change.' As the board was considering this new goal, they reached out for advice to Alex Edgar, who is now the youth engagement manager at Made By Us. They ultimately invited him to join the board as a full voting member and agreed to bring on a second young person as well. 'I think for volunteering and the incredible work that Points of Light is leading to really have a deeper connection with my generation, it needs to be done in a way that isn't just talking to or at young people, but really co-created across generations,' said Edgar, who is 21. Karmit Bulman, who has researched and supported volunteer engagement for many years, said she was very pleased to see Points of Light make this commitment. 'They are probably the most well known volunteerism organization in the country and I really appreciate their leadership,' said Bulman, who is currently the executive director of East Side Learning Center, a nonprofit in St. Paul. Bulman said there are many people willing to help out in their communities but who are not willing to jump through hoops to volunteer with a nonprofit. 'We also need to recognize that it's a pretty darn stressful time in people's lives right now,' she said. "There's a lot of uncertainty personally and professionally and financially for a lot of people. So we need to be really, really flexible in how we engage volunteers." ___
Newsweek
31 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump Responds To Elon Musk's Comments About A 'New Political Party'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump weighed in Friday on billionaire Elon Musk's threat to form a new political party to challenge Democrats and Republicans. The Context Trump and Musk had a high-profile alliance during the 2024 campaign and during the first few months of Trump's second term, with Musk spending millions of dollars to help Trump get elected in November and Trump later tapping him to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship has devolved in the last several days, as Musk excoriated the Trump-backed "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" as "outrageous" and "pork-filled," adding that it's a "disgusting abomination." Trump hit back at his onetime close ally, saying Musk has gone "crazy," accusing him of having "Trump derangement syndrome" and threatening the cancel government contracts with Musk's companies. What To Know The SpaceX CEO on Thursday floated the idea of forming a "new political party in America that "actually represents the 80% in the middle." Fox News reported on Friday that Trump responded to Musk's comments in a phone call with Fox News host Bret Baier, saying he's not worried about the threat. "Trump is not interested in talking to Elon," Fox News host and Trump's former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on the network while summarizing the phone call. "Trump is not worried about threats of a third party ... President Trump also pointed to his favorable polls and his strong support among Capitol Hill Republicans." Fox is reporting that Bret Baier just spoke with Trump and Trump said he is not interested in speaking with Elon Musk. Trump also said: Elon Musk has totally lost it — Acyn (@Acyn) June 6, 2025 The White House confirmed Friday that Trump has no plans to contact Musk. Trump also plans to sell the Tesla he bought earlier this year, which was once showcased on the White House lawn as a symbol of the president's alignment with Musk. This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
