On Friday, June 20, the Donald Trump administration sent layoff notices to more than 600 employees of the Voice of America broadcaster.
The New York Times reports this.
Trump fires 600 Voice of America workers
The mass layoffs, which are being billed as staff reductions, will reduce the agency's workforce to fewer than 200 people.
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This is about one-seventh of the editorial board that was there at the beginning of 2025.
Employees who have been made redundant will remain on paid leave until September 1, after which the decision to dismiss will come into effect.
The decision was the latest step by the Trump administration in its crackdown on state-run media, including Voice of America.
Last week, amid escalation between Israel and Iran, the White House temporarily brought back some of its Persian-language staff.
But already on June 20, at least two of them also received notice of dismissal.
Despite the fact that it is impossible to appeal the decision, most journalists have been on forced leave for a long time.
As of now, the Voice of America broadcasts in only four languages, and radio broadcasts are preserved exclusively for the Afghan audience.
In February 2025, the agency employed approximately 1,300 journalists who broadcast programs daily in 49 languages to more than 360 million viewers and listeners worldwide.
Why is Voice of America being cut?
Let us recall that in May 2025, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced the termination of funding for the Voice of America broadcaster.
The US President called the broadcaster anti-Trump, saying it had become the Voice of Radical America.
Voice of America journalists and their unions subsequently sued the U.S. Agency for Global Media, arguing that their closure violated workers' First Amendment right to free speech.
On March 29, U.S. District Judge Paul Etken blocked President Donald Trump's administration from unilaterally shutting down the Voice of America and related radio programs that Congress had previously approved for funding.
