1,300 Voice of America Staff Members Placed on Leave, Lake Says Agency ‘Not Salvageable’

VOA Director Michael Abramowitz said, ‘For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced.’

Kari Lake, President Donald Trump's choice to lead Voice of America (VOA), speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 21, 2025. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

About 1,300 journalists, producers, and assistants at the federally funded Voice of America (VOA) news organization were placed on administrative leave, VOA Director Michael Abramowitz said in a post on LinkedIn on March 15.

“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Abramowitz wrote.