‘Bloated and Biased’: Kari Lake Slashes 85% of Federal Media Agency

Kari Lake, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced the elimination of 1,400 positions — an 85 percent workforce reduction — as part of a sweeping effort to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at shrinking the federal bureaucracy.

“This is about putting America First and cutting off taxpayer funding to a bloated, biased, and dysfunctional agency,” Lake said after delivering Reduction in Force notices to 639 employees at USAGM and its chief media platform, Voice of America. “We are dismantling a decades-old slush fund of government waste and liberal media activism.”

The move follows President Trump’s March 14, 2025, executive order, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” which directed agencies to discontinue non-statutory functions and scale back staff population to their legal minimums. Senior career officials approved a plan reducing the agency to just 81 statutory employees. After the latest cuts, the agency’s workforce stands at 250 across USAGM, Voice of America, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

Lake has already taken aim at mismanagement in recent months, canceling a $250 million lease for a luxury high-rise on Pennsylvania Avenue that lacked broadcasting facilities.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) praised the announced actions as a win for accountability, linking the purge to earlier House oversight efforts: “This is the power of @DOGECommittee oversight. We exposed it. Trump is cutting it,” Greene wrote on X. “This follows my March letter demanding answers for J-1 visa abuse, deleted evidence, and sweetheart contracts. Great work, Kari!”

Despite false claims in the media, all 33 employees at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting remain in place, according to Lake. The agency’s studio in Marathon, Florida, continues to beam news into communist-run Cuba.

USAGM offered two rounds of its “Fork in the Road” exit program, which included full pay through September 30, 2025, accrued leave, benefits, and early retirement. The offer was accepted by 163 employees.

Next week, Lake is set to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she will outline the agency’s record of waste, mismanagement, self-dealing, and national security failures.

“The agency now operates near the statutory minimum, lean and focused,” Lake said. “This is how you clean up a federal disaster and restore accountability. I am proud to deliver results for President Trump and for American taxpayers.”