Voice of America to Restart Operations After Trump’s Attempted Shutdown

The Voice of America, which the Trump administration began dismantling in mid-March, is set to resume operations next week, according to the Department of Justice and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Lawyers for RSF and the Voice of America coalition learned via email from the Department of Justice on Saturday, May 3, that teams at this iconic American broadcasting entity will be able to resume their work shortly. In a statement, RSF noted that earlier that day, accounts for 1,406 employees and contractors of USAGM (the U.S. Agency for Global Media) and Voice of America were reactivated. All workers should now have access to the system. The USAGM expects the Voice of America program to return next week. Two Voice of America employees confirmed to the French Press Agency that their previously disabled email accounts had been reopened, although they hadn’t yet received official notice to return to work. In mid-March, the Trump administration furloughed staff from radio networks like Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and other organizations funded by U.S. resources, abruptly halting activities of media outlets considered democratic counterweights in countries like Russia and China. However, the U.S. judicial system opposed these measures: in late March, a federal judge based in New York was the first to suspend the closure decision for these public media outlets, followed by a federal judge in Washington in April. Tim Bruten, RSF’s general director, welcomed the progress but warned about the Trump administration’s ongoing threats, emphasizing the need for funding guarantees from Congress for all USAGM media. Established during World War II, Voice of America, alongside Radio Free Europe during the Cold War and Radio Free Asia since 1996, aims to broadcast ‘America’s voice’ globally, particularly to authoritarian regimes. In mid-March, Trump signed an executive order labeling the USAGM, which employed 3,384 staff in 2023, as an ‘unnecessary element of federal bureaucracy.’