Latest news with #KariLake
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Administration Rescinds Voice of America Layoffs After Errors in Notices
The Trump administration on Friday rescinded the layoff notices it had sent to employees at Voice of America after employees discovered errors in documents detailing the terms that could later nullify or significantly delay President Trump's attempts to gut the news organization. The email rescinding last week's layoff notices was sent by Voice of America's human resources office to employees based in Washington, where around 90 percent of its union-protected employees reside, according to the layoff plan the Trump administration sent to Congress earlier this month. But those reporters and support staff are not being called back to work, and Voice of America's parent agency, U.S. Agency for Global Media, 'will be running another RIF in the near future,' the email said, referring to federal layoffs with the acronym for 'reductions in force.' Hundreds of journalists and support staff at Voice of America had been scheduled to be laid off on Sept. 1. Kari Lake, a close Trump ally and the senior adviser to the global media agency, is leading the effort to gut Voice of America. She said in an email that her plan to reduce the agency's work force by 85 percent 'has remained unchanged.' 'The email that went out today allows employees to access and update their personnel files ahead of completion of the RIF,' Ms. Lake said. The Trump administration has accused Voice of America of spreading partisan 'propaganda,' calling it 'the voice of Radical America.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Kari Lake struggles to answer softball question on Capitol Hill
Kari Lake, Senior Advisor for the USA Agency for Global Media, faced an awkward exchange with a House Democrat at Capitol Hill. During questioning, Rep. Jim Costa asked Lake to identify the language spoken in Armenia. Lake failed to name the language, admitting she had heard it but couldn't recall its name. Rep. Costa revealed the language is Armenian, prompting Lake to laugh off the fumble and call it a "trick question". Watch the video in full above.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Kari Lake's embarrassing flub on softball question on the language of Armenia
Watch as Kari Lake fails to answer a question on the language spoken in Armenia, in an awkward exchange on Wednesday (26 June) with a House Democrat. The Senior Advisor for the US Agency for Global Media was being questioned on the future of her agency at Capitol Hill when Rep. Jim Costa decided to ask her about the European country. Mr Costa asked her: 'I assume you know what language the people of Armenia speak?', to which Ms Lake replied: 'I've actually heard it. It's a beautiful language. I can't name it. Can you please tell me?' The democrat shot back 'yeah, it's Armenian', with Ms Lake laughing off the fumble, calling it a 'trick question'.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Kari Lake declares US Agency for Global Media ‘rotten to the core,' sets 2026 shutdown goal: 'A boondoggle'
Kari Lake isn't backing down. In blunt testimony before Congress Wednesday, Lake declared the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the $950 million agency for which she is the senior advisor overseeing Voice of America (VOA), is "rotten to the core" and on track to be gutted by 2026. "This place is rotten. It's rotten to the core," Lake told the House Oversight Committee. "President Trump has asked me to go in and help clean it up, and he's also issued an executive order to reduce this agency down to its mandate, to what is mandated, statutorily required. That's exactly what I'm doing. I don't care if they attack me." She's not acting alone. Lake provided Fox News Digital with a letter from House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., demanding records on USAGM's foreign hires, conflicts of interest and its handling of disinformation and national security. President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to say, "Why would a Republican want Democrat 'mouthpiece,' Voice of America (VOA), to continue? It's a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER — No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!" Lake didn't hold back in describing what she found within USAGM. "It's really like a rotten piece of fish," she said. "And you're looking at it, and you're saying, 'Is there anything we can pull out of here and eat?' And it's best to just scrap the whole thing and start over." She argued that instead of defending American values abroad, the federally funded national and international news agency had become compromised with hostile actors potentially influencing what gets broadcast on the U.S. taxpayer's dime. "The [Chinese Communist Party] has more control over what we put out editorially than people who are management at the agency," Lake said. "Are any of these VOA employees who acted on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party ... still employed? It's possible. We're working to try to figure that out." She accused the grantees — including VOA, Radio Free Asia and the Open Technology Fund — of resisting oversight and stonewalling basic financial reviews. "Nearly $400 million, the hard-earned taxpayer dollars of hard-working American people, are going to these grantees, and they've stonewalled us from getting any information until the eleventh hour," Lake said. "Finally, last night, knowing I would be sitting here, they finally agreed to say, 'Oh, we'll let you look at our books now.' It's a joke what's going on." Lake found no shortage of support from Republicans on the committee, including Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who said the agency should've been shut down years ago. "We might as well be riding a Model T down the middle of the street. It might be ... it looks good, and it brings back old memories, but, dadgum, it's not very efficient," Burchett said. Lake agreed, adding, "It's a relic." Democrats accused Lake of dismantling a strategic asset and repeating anti-VOA rhetoric similar to that used by China. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said, "You just want to reduce it to its statutory minimum. And then you said … that it will be gone by 2026. You want it gone. The president wants it gone by 2026. ... You're a propaganda machine for the Trump administration." Dean said she had "no questions" for Lake, adding, "You have misled this committee. ... You've lost your credibility. You have poured it out in buckets." Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, claimed layoffs would "cede all of our soft power in the world to our adversaries," arguing, "354 million people listen to [VOA] every week." Lake replied bluntly, "Those are government numbers. And I don't trust those numbers." Johnson shot back, "That's a sad state of affairs when you don't trust the government that you're representing." Lake defended the cuts, saying they follow the law and common sense. "We are doing what is statutorily required," she said. "The statutory minimum President Trump put forth in his executive order ... and that's what we're going to do." Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., expressed concern that cutting grantee staff could weaken U.S. influence in hot spots like Iran and North Korea. "We can do it with a smaller staff.," Lake replied. "This newsroom should have been downsized a long time ago. … It's over. Too many people were working in the newsroom, and we've shrunk that down." She added that many grantee roles were redundant. "Why do we need RFA to be doing a Mandarin news service when we at VOA are doing Mandarin?" Lake said. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., closed with a comparison. iHeartMedia runs a national operation at $90 million per year. USAGM's budget? Nearly $1 billion. Lake's closing message was direct. "We can do this smarter, leaner and with loyalty to American values," she said.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Kari Lake makes astonishing claim about congressman's 'gay lover' during off the rails congressional hearing
Kari Lake got personal Wednesday during a congressional hearing with a fellow a Arizonan. During an exchange with U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Lake brought up reporting of past rumors of the former Phoenix Mayor having a gay lover as an example of what happens when media agencies do not have a check on their content. Lake, the former failed U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, is presently serving as a senior advisor at the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) which oversees Voice of America, the official international broadcaster of the U.S. Lake warned Stanton that without proper oversight of content, 'they could literally put out a lie about anybody here, and I know you've been the victim of that.' 'I remember the stories about you, where they said you had a gay lover,' Lake asserted. Stanton responded by asking the committee chairman to scrub Lake's remark from the congressional record. Lake, acknowledging the rumors about Stanton were 'lies,' said they could still be broadcast on VOA without repercussions. 'You couldn't pick up the phone, Representative Stanton, and call them and say 'hey, you're putting out lies about me' you would not be able to do that because they would sue you for breaking the firewall,' Lake charged. 'How would you like it if those lies were put on Voice of America right now?' Lake concluded. Stanton undoubtedly found the remarks about his sexuality to be defamatory, as he has been married to his wife for 20 years, and the couple has two children together. Stanton got under Lake's skin for highlighting her electoral defeats, particularly her 2022 gubernatorial defeat. 'You lost fair and square. Instead of conceding, you embarrassed yourself and our state by lying,' Stanton said, accusing Lake of playing 'toxic' politics. 'The American people cannot believe a word you say.' Trump nominated Lake, a former local TV anchor, to lead Voice of America, which counts an audience of 326 million and employs 48 different languages. Unable to receive rapid Senate confirmation, the president appointed her to an advisory staff role. The Trump administration, with Lake's help, have unleashed extensive cuts at VOA and USAGM, all but shuttering operations. One of Lake's early moves as a USAGM employee was to oversee significant restructuring at the agency, drastically reducing its workforce by 85%. Those cuts were rejected by VOA's CEO Michael Abramowitz, who filed a federal lawsuit to stop them. But the Trump administration appealed, allowing the cuts to remain in effect for the time being.
