Headline Roundup • March 16th, 2025
Trump Signs Order to Eliminate Seven Federal Agencies. Cuts Include Voice of America and RFE/RL
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at eliminating seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees state media outlets Voice of America (VOA) (Center bias) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The Details: The order, issued late Friday, says the agencies should “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” VOA Director Michael Abramowitz said “virtually” all 1,300 staff members have been put on leave. Funding for RFE/RL and its Asian counterpart, Radio Free Asia, has been terminated.
For Context: On March 14, VOA ended its contracts with The Associated Press (Left) and Reuters (Center) and told its journalists to stop using their wire services. Trump previously named former news anchor and staunch ally Kari Lake to lead VOA. Lake has been serving as a special adviser to the USAGM while “waiting to take over,” as AP reports. RFE/RL was founded by the CIA in 1950 to weaken communist governments during the Cold War.
Key Quotes: On March 16, Lake said on X that the USAGM is “pound-for-pound the most corrupt agency in Washington DC.” Abramowitz said, “VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world… by providing objective and balanced news and information.” RFE/RL CEO Stephen Capus said cutting funding to the outlet is “a massive gift to America’s enemies.”
How the Media Covered It: As of Sunday morning, the story was mostly covered by the left and center. The story was not as widely covered by the right, though some less mainstream conservative outlets like The Post Millenial (Right), Epoch Times (Lean Right), and Washington Examiner (Lean Right) covered it. Washington Times (Lean Right) wrote, “Mr. Trump is once again testing the bounds of presidential authority.” Euronews (Center) and AP prominently described the affected outlets as “pro-democracy.”
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.
Featured Coverage of this Story
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.
On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.
Employees at Voice of America were placed on paid leave on Saturday and funding for two U.S. news services that broadcast to authoritarian regimes was slashed, one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-funded media outlets' parent and six other federal agencies.
Multiple workers at Voice of America, 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."
President Trump signed an executive order directing the elimination of seven additional federal agencies responsible for jobs such as labor mediation and homelessness, funding state museums and libraries and overseeing government funding of news outlets around the world.
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