VOA staff put on leave after Trump orders cuts

WASHINGTON: Several employees at Voice of America were placed on paid leave on Saturday, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the US government-funded media outlet’s parent and six other federal agencies.

Multiple workers at VOA, an international media broadcaster that operates in more than 40 languages, shared with Reuters an email that placed them on administrative leave with full pay and benefits “until otherwise notified”. The emails, sent by a human resources executive at the US Agency for Global Media, the VOA’s parent agency, instructed them not to enter their work premises or access internal systems.

The move follows Trump signing an executive order instructing USAGM and six other agencies — Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the US Inter-agency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency — to reduce their operations to the bare minimum, saying it was necessary to shrink bureaucracy.

Last month, Musk posted on X that VOA should be shut down.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2025