Kari Lake, current adviser to President Donald Trump overseeing the U.S. Agency for Global Media, defended the administration’s sweeping changes to Voice of America (VOA) during testimony Wednesday, June 25, on Capitol Hill. Lake appeared before Congress to explain the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staffing at VOA, a taxpayer-funded news agency.
Democrats took Lake to task not only over the deep cuts to the agency but for her refusal to accept election results.
Lake targets ‘bloated bureaucracy’ and alleges media bias
Lake criticized the news organization as an example of government waste and partisan reporting at Wednesday’s hearing.
“This place is rotten,” Lake said. “It’s rotten to its core. President Trump has asked me to go in and clean it up.”
Voice of America claims to be a nonpartisan news outlet, but Lake described it as pushing “anti-American propaganda.”
“Examples — refusing to call Hamas terrorists, glamorizing Che Guevara, airing campaign-style videos favoring President Biden, even broadcasting a graphic depicting Trump with a swastika over his face on the news,” Lake testified.
Hundreds laid off as executive order is enforced
Lake’s testimony aligned with a March executive order from Trump, which directed a dramatic reduction of federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media. More than 600 VOA employees were laid off last week, and the agency’s D.C. headquarters lease was terminated. In March, a judge temporarily halted the layoffs amid a lawsuit looking to stop the closure of VOA.
Lake told lawmakers that she plans to reduce the agency to just 18 employees, in line with the administration’s efforts to reduce the agency’s scope and spending drastically.
Democrats denounce dismantling of VOA
Democrats pushed back against Lake’s authority and the Trump administration’s plans, accusing them of undermining journalism and democratic values.
“Voice of America is not only about talking about America — it’s about reporting on the world,” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., said. “Millions of people for decades have relied upon it. So, for those of you who think this was about reform, it’s not. It’s about shutting down media.”
Other lawmakers criticized Lake directly over her refusal to acknowledge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“You have, to this day, refused to acknowledge that President Trump lost the 2020 election — something members of his own Justice Department have admitted,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said. “So it concerns me that you are now tasked with this responsibility of ensuring democracy around the world when you won’t even accept free and fair elections.”
Lake left her career in broadcasting to challenge Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in the 2022 Arizona governor’s race. She challenged the more than 17,000-vote loss several times in court to no avail. She later ran against U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego for a U.S. Senate seat and lost.
Trump calls for total shutdown of VOA
Following the hearing, President Trump posted on Truth Social, calling on Congress to shut down Voice of America entirely.
contributed to this report.