Latest news with #USAGM
Russia Today
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Trump administration ordered to restore funding to US propaganda outlet
A federal judge has ordered the administration of US President Donald Trump to restore funding for state-run Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), ruling that the decision to stop the support was 'unprecedented' and lacked any basis. RFE/RL was a key tool for spreading Western propaganda in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War and was funded by the CIA. The outlet currently receives nearly all of its funding from Congress. The Trump administration has sought to cut funding for RFE/RL and several other state-linked outlets. It has denounced the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the body that oversees state-funded media, saying it is 'not salvageable,' while indulging in 'obscene overspending.' The administration also claimed it is crawling with 'spies and terrorist sympathizers.' Consequently, the USAGM essentially froze funding for RFE/RL and refused to enter into a new contract with the outlet after the previous agreement expired in March. This led to staff furloughs and programming cuts, though the EU stepped in to fill the budgetary gap. On Friday, Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration lacks the legal authority to refuse Congress-approved funding of more than $70 million, arguing that they provided no clear basis for the move. 'It is unprecedented for an agency to demand that entirely new terms govern its decades-old working relationship with a grantee entity,' he wrote. He went on to rebuke the USAGM for a lack of responses to RFE/RL to negotiate a new agreement, describing it as 'stonewalling' and adding that the agency went dark for days or even weeks. The 'USAGM's flagrant disregard for its funding responsibilities' caused RFE/RL to suffer 'mass furloughs, cancelation of programming, and inevitable damage to the global influence that RFE/RL has built over decades,' the ruling said. RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus welcomed the court's decision. 'This victory provides our journalists with the momentum necessary to continue reaching the nearly 47 million people each week... With this ruling, RFE/RL can continue to advance US national security interests.'
Newsweek
05-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
DOGE Issues Fourth of July Cuts Update
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. In an update issued on the July 4 public holiday, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had saved taxpayers $804 million by canceling "54 wasteful contracts." These included one held by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for a "director of the Armenia innovation hub" and another with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for "broadcast services to the Togolese Republic." Newsweek contacted the USAID and the USAGM for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours. Why It Matters President Trump created DOGE following his second presidential inauguration in January, under the leadership of his then-close ally Elon Musk, which the task of cracking down on wasted government spending. Musk left DOGE at the end of May and has since been sharply critical of Trump, including over his One Big Beautiful Bill increasing the U.S. debt ceiling. Friday's update shows DOGE's determination to maintain relevance after Musk's departure. What To Know In a post on Friday, the official DOGE account on X, formerly Twitter, the Musk owned social-media platform, posted an update to its 4.9 million followers. The post said: "July 4 Contracts Update! "In the last 2 days, agencies terminated 54 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $1.8B and savings of $804M, including a $842k USAID professional services contract for a 'director of the Armenia innovation hub within the USAID/Armenia Economic Growth Office' and a $33k USAGM contract for '24/7 FM broadcast services to the Togolese Republic.'" 🇺🇸July 4th Contracts Update!🇺🇸 In the last 2 days, agencies terminated 54 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $1.8B and savings of $804M, including a $842k USAID professional services contract for a "director of the Armenia innovation hub within the USAID/Armenia Economic... — Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) July 4, 2025 Details about the other 52 contracts that DOGE said it ended were not provided in the post. DOGE has overseen efforts to fire federal government employees still on their probationary periods and to shut down the USAID, though both moves were challenged in court and the USAID continues to exist in skeleton form. Stock photo: Anti-DOGE protesters gather outside of the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on February 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Stock photo: Anti-DOGE protesters gather outside of the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on February 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong/GETTY On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that federal officials were instructed to stop submitting spending proposals to a DOGE-controlled email address for review before they are announced. In March, Trump said DOGE had saved "tens of billions of dollars" in "waste, fraud and abuse" though separate studies by The Washington Post and NPR put total cuts at around $2 billion. What People Are Saying Responding to the DOGE post on X, Matt Van Swol, a former Department of Energy employee with 270,000 followers, said: "Thank you so much DOGE team!!!!! "Speaker Johnson thinks he and the House of Representatives deserve the ENTIRE week off next week while you guys are absolutely CRANKING saving us money!!!! Thank you for working so hard. I wish our elected leaders worked as hard for us too …" Another X user, from New York, asked: "How do we know these were wasteful? Where is the monitoring and evaluation that shows that they were?" What Happens Next It remains to be seen how much influence DOGE will retain following Musk's departure in May and subsequent falling out with Trump. Further cuts will be required to reduce the U.S. deficit with the Congressional Budget Office projecting Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will add $2.4 trillion to the national debt.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
04-07-2025
- Business
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
RFE/RL wins court battle for June funding against Trump-backed USAGM in time for 75th anniversary — Novaya Gazeta Europe
A US district judge has ordered the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to disburse the congressionally appointed funds to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for June, the latest chapter in an ongoing legal struggle between the two media groups. In a judgment issued on Wednesday, Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted RFE/RL's request for a temporary restraining order in its lawsuit against USAGM, its parent organisation. The ruling comes as RFE/RL marks 75 years on Friday since its first test broadcast beyond the Iron Curtain to audiences in Czechoslovakia on 4 July 1950. In his decision, Lamberth stated this was the third time he had been forced to step in against USAGM's 'illegal action' in mid-March of terminating federal grants for broadcasters like RFE/RL, Voice of America, and Radio Free Asia, which had received such funding for nearly 80 years. RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said Wednesday: 'This ruling is the latest in a series of significant legal victories compelling USAGM to release funding necessary for our vital work', adding that 'RFE/RL's value has been proven time and again throughout its 75-year history'. Speaking on the Ask Dr. Drew podcast on Wednesday, the Trump-appointed USAGM Senior Advisor Kari Lake responded to the decision by claiming that: 'Starting in October, President Trump wants us to eliminate the agency, so I'm working to effectuate that as well. Our tax dollars could be spent more wisely elsewhere, and especially since this agency is not in alignment with our long-term interests and our national policy.' RFE/RL has been locked in a legal battle with Trump administration officials since USAGM's grant termination in March, continuing its work while furloughing dozens of employees and revoking freelance contracts. In late May, the European Union provided €5.5 million in short-term emergency funding, after it became clear that the broadcaster was in imminent danger of shutting down.
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Kari Lake declares US Agency for Global Media ‘rotten to the core,' sets 2026 shutdown goal: 'A boondoggle'
Kari Lake isn't backing down. In blunt testimony before Congress Wednesday, Lake declared the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the $950 million agency for which she is the senior advisor overseeing Voice of America (VOA), is "rotten to the core" and on track to be gutted by 2026. "This place is rotten. It's rotten to the core," Lake told the House Oversight Committee. "President Trump has asked me to go in and help clean it up, and he's also issued an executive order to reduce this agency down to its mandate, to what is mandated, statutorily required. That's exactly what I'm doing. I don't care if they attack me." She's not acting alone. Lake provided Fox News Digital with a letter from House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., demanding records on USAGM's foreign hires, conflicts of interest and its handling of disinformation and national security. EXCLUSIVE: KARI LAKE SAYS VOA'S PERSIAN NEWS SERVICE 'RISING TO THE OCCASION' AMID IRAN-ISRAEL CONFLICT President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to say, "Why would a Republican want Democrat 'mouthpiece,' Voice of America (VOA), to continue? It's a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER — No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!" Lake didn't hold back in describing what she found within USAGM. "It's really like a rotten piece of fish," she said. "And you're looking at it, and you're saying, 'Is there anything we can pull out of here and eat?' And it's best to just scrap the whole thing and start over." APPEALS COURT BACKS VOA OVERHAUL KARI LAKE SAYS WILL 'MODERNIZE' AGENCY: 'HUGE VICTORY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP' She argued that instead of defending American values abroad, the federally funded national and international news agency had become compromised with hostile actors potentially influencing what gets broadcast on the U.S. taxpayer's dime. "The [Chinese Communist Party] has more control over what we put out editorially than people who are management at the agency," Lake said. "Are any of these VOA employees who acted on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party ... still employed? It's possible. We're working to try to figure that out." She accused the grantees — including VOA, Radio Free Asia and the Open Technology Fund — of resisting oversight and stonewalling basic financial reviews. "Nearly $400 million, the hard-earned taxpayer dollars of hard-working American people, are going to these grantees, and they've stonewalled us from getting any information until the eleventh hour," Lake said. "Finally, last night, knowing I would be sitting here, they finally agreed to say, 'Oh, we'll let you look at our books now.' It's a joke what's going on." Lake found no shortage of support from Republicans on the committee, including Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who said the agency should've been shut down years ago. "We might as well be riding a Model T down the middle of the street. It might be ... it looks good, and it brings back old memories, but, dadgum, it's not very efficient," Burchett said. Lake agreed, adding, "It's a relic." Democrats accused Lake of dismantling a strategic asset and repeating anti-VOA rhetoric similar to that used by China. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said, "You just want to reduce it to its statutory minimum. And then you said … that it will be gone by 2026. You want it gone. The president wants it gone by 2026. ... You're a propaganda machine for the Trump administration." Dean said she had "no questions" for Lake, adding, "You have misled this committee. ... You've lost your credibility. You have poured it out in buckets." Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, claimed layoffs would "cede all of our soft power in the world to our adversaries," arguing, "354 million people listen to [VOA] every week." Lake replied bluntly, "Those are government numbers. And I don't trust those numbers." Johnson shot back, "That's a sad state of affairs when you don't trust the government that you're representing." Lake defended the cuts, saying they follow the law and common sense. "We are doing what is statutorily required," she said. "The statutory minimum President Trump put forth in his executive order ... and that's what we're going to do." Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., expressed concern that cutting grantee staff could weaken U.S. influence in hot spots like Iran and North Korea. "We can do it with a smaller staff.," Lake replied. "This newsroom should have been downsized a long time ago. … It's over. Too many people were working in the newsroom, and we've shrunk that down." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP She added that many grantee roles were redundant. "Why do we need RFA to be doing a Mandarin news service when we at VOA are doing Mandarin?" Lake said. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., closed with a comparison. iHeartMedia runs a national operation at $90 million per year. USAGM's budget? Nearly $1 billion. Lake's closing message was direct. "We can do this smarter, leaner and with loyalty to American values," she said.
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Is the VOA, DOA? With Kari Lake in charge of things, it might be
The VOA is perhaps DOA. At least that's the interpretation of Kari Lake. Lake ran unsuccessfully for governor of Arizona in 2022. She ran for the Senate in 2024 and lost. So President Trump appointed Lake to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The worst thing in broadcasting is dead air. And that may be the goal of Lake – a former Arizona TV news anchor. "It's really like a rotten piece of fish," said Lake before a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. "And it's best to just scrap the whole thing and start over." She plans to edit the influence of VOA and other government media such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcast Networks. "We need to modernize. I don't think doing 1990s television is effective anymore," said Lake. The hearing marked the first time Lake testified before lawmakers since President Trump tapped her for the position. She told lawmakers that Chinese spies infiltrated the VOA's Mandarin service. And Russian spooks nearly made the payroll at Radio Free Europe. "This is not the voice of America. This is the voice of America's enemies," said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. Democrats say curbing VOA silences the U.S. from transmitting news and truthful information into enemy territory. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., was apoplectic at the Trump Administration's plans to cancel many of the government's radio and TV broadcasts abroad. "My God. It's the worst and most stupid thing that we could do in foreign affairs," fumed Sherman. "That's our soft power. That's our effort to bring freedom of information and hopefully democracy to the entire world. That's how we explain ourselves in dozens of different languages. And for them to gut it? In terms of our influence in the world, Voice of America and its sister broadcasters is more important than an aircraft carrier." Sherman reiterated his concerns about diminishing soft power at the hearing, adding that changes to the VOA lineup may appeal to a special audience abroad. "I think Putin would be very happy," said Sherman about the Russian leader. "Bombs are powerful. Truth is more powerful." But it's not just Democrats who fret about the static on the government airwaves. Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., says unwinding Radio Free Asia cedes power to China and North Korea. "We have let go of journalists that have spent decades building their credibility and trust with our audiences," said Kim. "Without reporting from the outside world through VOA and (Radio Free Asia), most North Korean civilians only see the United States as the bad guy." Kim feared the U.S. couldn't "win in the information domain." Lake recently canned 639 Global Media employees. She says her orders come from the top. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked what sort of "review" she did to pare back VOA and other services. "What we've reviewed was an executive order March 14th by the man who's in charge of the executive branch. Hs name is Donald Trump," said Lake. She then held up a photo of the president and showed it to lawmakers facing her on the dais. Democrats contend that's exactly the problem as the president and Lake try to redesign American government broadcasters. "I see why Mr. Trump put you in this position. He doesn't want a free press," scolded Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn. "You are a propaganda machine for the Trump Administration." Democrats piled on. "I'm also concerned about your ability to promote American democracy given your background backing dictators," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. Other Democrats highlighted Lake's controversial political history and how she questioned the results of both races. "You have been sanctioned twice for providing false information to courts. Isn't that true? Yes or no?," asked Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., the former mayor of Phoenix. "I was brave enough to fight our shoddy elections. And the courts have not caught up," fired back Lake. "The American people cannot believe a word you say," said Stanton. "You lost, fair and square. Instead of conceding, you embarrassed yourself and our state by lying again and again for years, blaming everything under the sun for your loss except for your own toxic politics. You lie about that election to this very day." After Lake's dual political losses, Stanton had a request of Lake. "Will you do us all a favor and run it back and run again?" he asked. Lake encountered more friendly questioning from Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. He asked about potential messages U.S. Global Media could broadcast around the world. "What do you think some of the most important stories and tenants about America that need to be told that haven't been getting told?" asked Huizenga. "I think that just the history of this country and what this country is about. Our freedoms. Our liberties. Our Bill of Rights," stated Lake. "Maybe the founding of our country?" suggested Huizenga. "The founding of our country and especially this year with 250 years," responded Lake, noting that July 4, 2025, is the semi-quincentennial of the U.S. "That would seem to me a pretty big story to tell," added Huizenga. Congress commissioned VOA during the Cold War to beam news behind the Iron Curtain. But today, Republicans question its necessity. Especially when people now get news from their phone. "Goddangit, it's not very efficient," said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. "It's a relic," declared Lake. "Yes ma'am. It's a Cold War relic," agreed Burchett. VOA fired dozens of staff in its Persian division. But restored some programming as tensions rose between Iran and Israel – culminating in the recent U.S. airstrikes. But the VOA's Persian service used to broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even though VOA bolstered some reporting amid the crisis, it was a fraction of the work the organization used to do. "From my understanding the VOA operation is pretty much gone," observed Kim at the hearing. "No. It's not gone. We're doing what is statutorily required," replied Lake. "The statutory minimum." That means VOA and other services are but a husk. Congress will prepare spending bills for the entire federal government over the next three months. What lawmakers decide to do with funding for VOA and Global Media will foretell the future of the organizations. And if the microphones fall silent for good.
