More than 1,000 staff members at Voice of America have been placed on administrative leave as the Trump administration moves to unilaterally shut down more federal agencies. The outgoing director at the VOA claims the dismantling of the Cold War-era news outlet will have serious consequences for America’s standing in the world. 

President Trump announced Saturday that he was directing several executive agencies and departments to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” Among those agencies that were named in the order was the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the parent organization of VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and Radio and TV Marti. 

Mr. Trump’s handpicked new senior advisor at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake, says the agency is “not salvageable.” 

“From top-to-bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer — a national security risk for this nation — and irretrievably broken,” Ms. Lake said in a statement. “While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule.”

The Agency for Global Media’s budget in fiscal year 2024 was $877 million, according to the agency’s 2025 report to Congress. Voice of America made up $267 million of the budget, while Radio Free Europe took up just more than $146 million.

South Florida Republicans, many of them with close ties to the Cuban community that has been steadfastly supportive of GOP candidates — including Mr. Trump — for decades, remained mum about the cuts to Radio and TV Martí despite being vehemently opposed to such cuts during previous administrations. The Miami-based broadcast outlets were established in the 1980s to beam anti-Communist and pro-American content to the island. 

Congressman Carlos Gimenez told a local television station at Miami that he supports Mr. Trump’s efforts to cut government spending, but not any reductions at Radio and TV Marti — the elimination of which would save taxpayers nearly $27 million a year.

“I don’t support eliminating Radio Marti,” he told Miami’s NBC affiliate. “I support revamping it, but I don’t support eliminating it. I think it’s vital the people of Cuba get free, unedited information.”

Ms. Lake herself has gotten in on the public campaign against TV Marti’s parent agency, shooting a video on Saturday of herself in a new office building where the U.S. Agency for Global Media was planning to move. She says that the new lease would have cost nearly $250 million over more than a decade. 

“The Biden administration folks who were running this agency … right before they left office signed a new lease for this building — a 15-year lease that is going to cost the taxpayer nearly a quarter of a billion dollars,” Ms. Lake said. 

A close ally of Mr. Trump, Senator Graham, said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he was evaluating the funding cuts made by the Trump administration, though he conceded that Voice of America and Radio Free Europe may be Cold War relics. 

“I don’t know what value these ideas have in the 21st century. At the end of the day, I’ll look and evaluate where the Voice of America really is,” Mr. Graham said. “Radio Free Europe, I know it made a difference in the Cold War — people told us that. That’s something to consider: Is it still worth the price?”

A former chief financial officer for the Agency for Global Media, Grant Turner, told National Public Radio that the firings over the weekend represented a “Bloody Saturday” for the organization. 

“This is shaping up to be a really sad day. USAGM networks share important news, information and American values around the world,” Mr. Turner said. “It took decades to build this goodwill and an audience of hundreds of millions every week. Seeing arsonists just set fire to it all is awful.”

The current VOA director, Michael Joshua Abramowitz, announced on Saturday that he along with around 1,300 other staff members at the news agency are being put on administrative leave — a tactic being used at several agencies and departments by Mr. Trump and Elon Musk to cut costs at programs they deem to be wasteful. 

“VOA needs thoughtful reform, and we have made progress in that regard. But today’s action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission. That mission is especially critical today, when America’s adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States,” Mr. Abramowitz wrote on his personal Facebook page. 

“Even if the agency survives in some form, the actions being taken today by the Administration will severely damage Voice of America’s ability to foster a world that is safe and free and in doing so is failing to protect U.S. interests,” he added.