Kari Lake heads to Capitol Hill after gutting an agency Trump hates
Kari Lake, the staunch Trump ally and senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will tout massive cuts to an agency that's been a target of Republican hostility for years on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Lake's testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee — for a hearing entitled 'Spies, Lies, and Mismanagement: Examining the U.S. Agency for Global Media's Downfall' — is expected to shine a spotlight on her role in President Donald Trump's broader effort to downsize federal bureaucracy, reduce government spending and reprimand media outlets the president views as unfriendly.
Lake announced last week that USAGM eliminated 1,400 positions — an 85 percent cut of the personnel from March, when Trump signed an executive order gutting the agency. Lake said in a memo Friday that 250 employees remain at the agency, which directly oversees Voice of America and funds several other independent broadcast outlets stationed around the world.
USAGM is also clawing back $17 million previously allocated to those stations and redirected to unspecified 'mission support.' In March, Lake announced the agency was terminating its lease in a Washington office building, citing its cost.
Lake said in Friday's memo her testimony to Congress will 'expose the USAGM's record of waste, mismanagement, self-dealing, and national security failures.'
After rising to national prominence on the back of two failed statewide campaigns in Arizona in 2022 and 2024 — in which she aligned herself closely to Trump, including by making false claims denying the results of the 2020 presidential election — Lake reportedly angled for a role overseeing VOA to draw on her experience as a former local news anchor.
Before stepping into her role at USAGM, Lake appeared to make an argument for recasting VOA as a Trump-friendly global media outlet, rather than hollowing out the network.
'We are fighting an information war, and there's no better weapon than the truth, and I believe VOA can be that weapon,' she said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, about a week before she was appointed as a senior adviser to the agency.
But since then, she's executed the dismantling of an agency Republicans, including Trump, have held in contempt dating back to the first Trump administration. During Trump's first term, his nomination of conservative ally Michael Pack to serve as CEO of USAGM was stalled for weeks by Senate Democrats. In being appointed to current her role as senior adviser, Lake has avoided the Senate confirmation process.
Lake's gouging of USAGM allows her to deliver a victory for Trump in his ongoing war with several major mainstream media organizations — which he's greatly accelerated since returning to office. The Trump administration has fought to keep the Associated Press from covering events on White House grounds. The White House has pushed Congress to codify over $1 billion in spending cuts to NPR and PBS, while the president continues to fight legal battles seeking damages for various outlets' coverage of him.
USAGM provides independent news and information to countries around the world, targeted primarily at nations with limited press freedom. The agency dates back to the founding of VOA in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda. In addition to VOA, the agency oversees or funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Middle East Broadcast Networks.
'The elimination of VOA's four-dozen language services wiped out the most effective and cost-efficient instrument of American soft power and public diplomacy,' said Steve Herman, a former VOA correspondent who is soon set to helm the University of Mississippi's Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation. 'The loss to American prestige and credibility will be long-lasting and probably incalculable."
Herman, like nearly the entirety of VOA's staff, was placed on administrative leave ahead of the terminations.
VOA's role in U.S. foreign policy came into stark relief in the wake of the war between Israel and Iran. Staff who worked in VOA's Persian-language service before being placed on leave were called back into work earlier this month to counter the messaging of Iranian state media. Some of those staffers also received termination notices last week, POLITICO previously reported.
USAGM did not respond to a request for comment.
Despite her reputation as one of Trump's most loyal defenders, Lake's political future remains uncertain. She's ruled out another run for office for now in Arizona or in Iowa, where she grew up. But Lake's success in implementing Trump's goals for an agency he's long derided could position her for a bigger role in the administration.
In response to a social media post announcing the cuts at USAGM, the X user DataRepublican, a prominent MAGA poster who had won praise from Elon Musk and others, replied 'Next: Kari Lake for [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] Director Then: Kari Lake for IRS Commissioner Finally: Kari Lake for Fed Chairwoman,' ticking through three agencies reviled by much of the president's base.
Lake replied to the comment with three green checkmarks, signaling her approval for each suggestion.
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