Future of Voice of America and Sister Outlets

 The Poynter Institute, a global non-profit focused on ethical journalism, published on 20 March 2026 an in-depth report titled "A Year After Trump Administration Cuts, Voice of America and Its Sister Outlets Are Mostly Shadows of Their Former Selves" by Angela Fu.

After being largely shut down for more than a year on orders from the Trump administration, a federal judge has allowed the Voice of America (VOA) and its sister organizations under the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to resume operations.  The other outlets are the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Network.  

VOA had approximately 800 employees and 600 contractors in March 2025 broadcasting in 49 languages.  Today it has about 130 total staff reporting in just 6 languages.  The other employees, but not contractors, were placed on paid leave.  Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Network were able to continue limited broadcasting because, unlike VOA and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, they are independent organizations.  But they lost funding and experienced major cuts.  

The future of all of the broadcasting outlets remains uncertain.  The biggest challenge will be to regain the trust of the audience that the VOA and other outlets had before the Trump administration tried to dismantle them.  

Federal Judge Reinstates Voice of America Employees

 The Washington Post published on 17 March 2026 an article titled "Judge Reinstates 1,000 Voice of America Employees, Deems Wind-down Illegal" by Scott Nover.

Following a full year on paid administrative leave as a result of the Trump administration's effort to dismantle the Voice of America (VOA) and its parent organization, the Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a federal judge ruled the action unlawful and ordered USAGM to return more than 1,000 employees to work by March 23 to resume international broadcasting.  Under Kari Lake, USAGM retained only 68 positions.

Comment:  The Trump administration may appeal the decision.  It is also not clear how many of the employees are still available, although most of them likely remained with VOA as they were being paid but not allowed to work.  This is a major victory for telling America's story abroad.  

The Voice of America Lives On, Sort Of

 The Washington Post published on 13 March 2026 an article titled "Trump Picks Head for VOA Parent Amid Lake Legal Battle" by Scott Nover and Adam Taylor.

The Trump administration nominated defeated Arizona candidate for governor and US senator, Kari Lake, to oversee the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which runs the Voice of America (VOA) and several other organizations such as Radio Free Asia.  The idea was to put Lake in charge to shut down these semi-independent government media outlets.  

US District Judge Royce Lamberth recently ruled that Lake has been illegally running USAGM and nullified months of Lake's actions, including a mass layoff of hundreds of employees. The Trump administration has now responded by naming Sarah B. Rogers, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, as the new chief executive of USAGM.  She will apparently keep her current position in the State Department while assuming her new role as CEO of USAGM.  

The White House only provided enough funding to shut down USAGM, but the US Congress rejected that approach and appropriated $653 million for the agency's operations this year. 

Comment:  This development keeps the VOA and its sister organizations alive but now under the direct supervision of the State Department.  USAGM and its media organizations will apparently lose much of their previous independence.  It is also not clear how many of the USAGM work force have remained during this demoralizing and unsettled past year.  

Will the Voice of America Rise Like a Phoenix?

 The Washington Post posted on 13 January 2026 an article titled "Congress Agrees to Fund Voice of America, Bucking Trump Shutdown Order" by Scott Nover.

A bipartisan spending bill from both houses of Congress would allocate $643 million for broadcasting from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees the Voice of America (VOA).  While that figure is down from the $867 million appropriated for the agency each of the last two years, it is more than four times the $153 million the Trump administration requested that Congress provide to "support the orderly shutdown of USAGM operations."  The package still needs full House and Senate approval before going to President Trump for signature.  

In March, Trump called for the dismantlement of USAGM, which also funds Radio Free Asia, Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Europe.  Kari Lake, the deputy CEO installed by Trump to shut down USAGM, placed more than 1,300 VOA staffers on paid administrative leave and halted broadcasting operations.  It is the first time the VOA went silent since it was established in 1942.  

Comment:  The decision to dismantle USAGM was especially misguided.  Elon Musk played a major role in the decision.  It is refreshing there is bipartisan support in Congress to fund the agency, albeit at reduced levels.  While this is not yet a done deal, it hopefully invokes the lyrics of the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst, chosen to represent Austria at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark:

Rise like a phoenix

Out of the ashes

Seeking rather than vengeance,

retribution

You were warned

Once I'm transformed, once I'm

reborn

I rise to the sky

You threw me down but

I'm gonna fly 

Official Chinese Media Begins to Replace VOA

 The Wall Street Journal published on 13 July 2025 an article titled "China Gets More Airtime Around the World as Voice of America Signs Off" by Aruna Viswanatha, Alexandra Wexler, and Clarence Leong.

Media time slots in foreign countries once used by the Voice of America are, in some cases, now being allocated to official Chinese media outlets.

Russia and China Filling Void Left by Dismantlement of VOA

 The New York Times published on 24 June 2025 an article titled "As U.S. Dismantles Voice of America, Rival Powers Hope to Fill the Void" by Tiffany Hsu.  

As the Voice of American and its affiliated networks such as Radio Free Asia shut down at the request of the Trump administration, Russian networks such as RT and Sputnik and Chinese such as Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, and China Global Television Network are filling the void.  

Voice of America and Sister Services Are a Shambles

 Rolling Stone published on 8 May 2025 an article titled "Voice of America Will Be Fed OAN's Far-right Coverage, Says Trump Admin" by Charisma Madarang.  

Kari Lake, the defeated Republican candidate for governor of Arizona who serves as the senior advisor of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), was put in charge of dismantling the Voice of America (VOA). 

She announced that the right-wing One America News (OAN) will provide newsfeed services free-of-charge to USAGM networks including VOA, Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and Radio Marti.  Fewer than 20 of more than 1,300 VOA personnel were permitted to enter their place of work earlier this week.

The Washington Post published on 9 May 2025 a commentary titled "It Has Come to This: The U.S. Will Broadcast One America News" by Marc Fisher.

The author concludes that the Trump administration is "going to replace the journalism of Voice of America with the slanted sycophancy of One America News," which "seems like a step into a disinformation abyss."  

Comment:  VOA has effectively been silenced, and the administration seems to want to shut it down entirely.  It is not clear who will put the OAN feed on the air and even less clear who will bother to listen to it.  

Voice of America to Live Again

 The Hill published on 22 April 2025 an article titled "Judge Orders Trump Administration to Restore Voice of America" by Ella Lee.

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Voice of America and affiliated news services was likely unlawful and said they could restore service and bring back their employees.  

Kari Lake Moves to State Department to Dismantle Voice of America

 The Washington Post posted on 9 April 2025 an article titled "Kari Lake to Be Detailed to State Department to Dismantle VOA Parent Agency" by Sarah Ellison and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez.

Defeated Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake signed on to run the Voice of America in the Trump administration.  DOGE opted to shut down the agency.  Lake has been detailed to the State Department to dismantle it and its parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media.  

The Case for Voice of America and Affiliated Media Services

 The American Security Project published on 21 March 2025 a commentary titled "The United States Is Deliberately Sabotaging Its Image Abroad by Gutting USAGM" by Matthew Wallin.

The services under the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe reach more than 400 million people worldwide.  The Trump administration decision to gut USAGM will only cede the information space to Russia, China, and Iran.  

We Need the Voice of America Now More than Ever

 Foreign Policy published on 26 March 2025 a commentary titled "We Need the Voice of America Now More than Ever" by Jeanne Shaheen, Democratic Senator from New Hampshire.

The Voice of America and its affiliated services such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia have been a front line of defense for the United States in opposition to the firehose of misinformation from our adversaries.  This is the time to strengthen these services, not abolish them.  

China Is Ecstatic as DOGE Dumps Radio Free Asia and VOA

 The New York Times published on 22 March 2025 an article titled "How Elon Musk's DOGE Cuts Leave a Vacuum That China Can Fill" by David E. Sanger.

The Trump administration is moving to shut down a number of government agencies including Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America, which has the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrating. The mouthpiece of the CPC crowed that the Voice of America "has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag."

US Abdicates Information War to China, Russia, and Iran

 The Wall Street Journal published on 18 March 2025 an article titled "Defunding Voice of America Is a Win for China and Iran" by William A. Galston.

The Trump administration is in the process of gutting the US Agency for Global Media which controls the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and several other broadcasting services. This is another case where Elon Musk has no understanding of the facts or importance of these media services to US foreign policy.