Trump urges Congress to ‘kill’ Voice of America as its leader defends gutting it

WASHINGTON - Ms Kari Lake, a close Trump ally and senior adviser to the US Agency for Global Media, urged Congress on June 25 to gut the Voice of America (VOA) and other federally funded news organisations she oversees, as lawmakers of both parties expressed concern about the move.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill that grew testy at times, Ms Lake defended proposed cuts to the global news organisations, while Democrats and some Republicans warned that they could make it impossible for the United States to disseminate information to countries with limited press freedoms, such as Iran, China and Russia.

“What is going out on VOA airwaves – it’s outrageous, and it has to stop,” she told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

She called independent reporting from international news agencies funded by the government “corrupt” and “biased”, and made clear that US President Donald Trump’s goal was not to overhaul but to shut down the global media agency, which she called “a rotten piece of fish”.

Mr Trump himself chimed in on June 25 with a social media post, urging Congress to “kill” the VOA.

“Why would a Republican want Democrat ‘mouthpiece’’ Voice of America, to continue?” he wrote. “It’s a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER - No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!”

Mr Trump has accused the news group of spreading “anti-American” and partisan “propaganda”, calling it “the voice of radical America”.

In March, he signed an executive order that effectively called for the

dismantling of the news agency

, and put nearly all VOA reporters on paid leave, ceasing its operations for the first time since its founding in 1942.

Ms Lake, the former newscaster Mr Trump put in charge of the department that includes the international broadcast network, sent layoff notices last week to all but around 200 reporters and support staff at Voice of America and the parent agency she leads.

She has also withheld funding from other newsrooms that are separate non-profits but receive federal dollars, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.

On June 25, she asked members of Congress to amend the laws requiring the existence of Voice of America and its aligned newsrooms, which have sought to fight the Trump administration’s push to shutter them.

She argued that her agency was “unsalvageable” and “a threat to America’s national security”, asserting falsely that its reporters, including foreign nationals, had obtained security clearances, and that it had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Non-citizens cannot obtain security clearances for viewing classified information, and no reporters at the global media agency have such security clearances, said Ms Kate Neeper, a director of strategy who received a layoff notice last week.

Some executives may have security clearances to receive intelligence that would help them protect reporters who work in war-torn areas or in countries with repressive governments, Ms Neeper said.

“Congress should ask Ms Lake to provide proof for the mystifying allegations,” Mr Mike Abramowitz, director of Voice of America, said in a statement. “If VOA is controlled by the CCP, then

why are they rejoicing

at its being shut down?”

Democrats and some Republicans voiced concern that in moving to dismantle the global media agency, Mr Trump was abandoning a useful tool of soft power.

Representative Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said there were “systemic problems” in the agency, but that it remained necessary around the world.

“We need America’s voice in Iran right now,” he said. “We need to ensure the Iranian people hear the truth that we do not intend to harm them.”

Representative Young Kim, R-Calif, said she was worried that the cuts could affect journalists who “spent decades building their credibility and trust with our audiences”.

“I just want to make sure that those talents are not eliminated and we are able to bring them back as soon as possible,” Ms Kim said.

Democrats pointed to a surge in Iranians tuning into Radio Farda, the Persian-language news service funded by the global media agency. Amid the recent war between Israel and Iran, they argued, the United States should continue to fund media organisations countering the misinformation disseminated by Iran and other countries, such as North Korea.

“Those regimes are actually cheering as we surrender another potent set of soft power tools and abandon the airwaves,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the panel. NYTIMES