NonilexMay 16

The #Trump admin fired ~600 employees at #VoiceOfAmerica [#VOA], a federally funded #news network that provides #independent reporting to countries w/limited #FreePress.

The #layoffs targeted contractors, mostly #journalists but also administrative employees, & amounted to >⅓ of VOA’s staff. It signaled the Trump admin plans to continue to dismantle the broadcaster despite a COURT RULING that ORDERED the fed govt to maintain robust news programming at the network.

#law
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/us/politics/trump-voice-of-america-firings.html?smid=url-share

Trump Administration Fires Hundreds of Voice of America Employees

The layoffs amounted to over a third of the media organization’s staff, and came as the Trump administration put up for sale the federal building in Washington that houses the network.

The New York Times
Show threadNonilexMay 16

In another sign of the #Trump admin’s #hostility toward the broadcaster, the federal building in Washington that houses the #media organization was put up for sale on Thurs.

Michael Abramowitz, the director of #VoiceOfAmerica, said in an email to his staff on Thurs that the #firings were “inexplicable.”

“I am heartbroken,” he said. Abramowitz has sued to stop the Trump admin from closing the #news organization.

#VOA #journalism #FourthEstate #law #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Constitution

Show threadNonilex

#KariLake, a senior adviser at #USAGM [& crackpot], which oversees #VoiceOfAmerica, said that the #Trump admin had acted within its #legal authority [it didn’t & she wouldn’t know anyway given her *concept* of the #law].

“We are in the process of rightsizing the agency & reducing the federal bureaucracy to meet administration priorities,” Lake…said in a statement.

She added: “Buckle up. There’s more to come.”

#VOA #journalism #FourthEstate #law #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Constitution

May 16 at 4:47pmWeb
Show threadNonilexMay 16

Some of the #journalists who were #terminated were from countries w/repressive governments that persecute journalists for #independent reporting, Abramowitz said in the email to employees.

Those journalists now have to leave the #UnitedStates by the end of June, as their #immigration status is tied to employment at #VoiceOfAmerica.

#VOA #journalism #FourthEstate #law #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Constitution #Trump #despot #tyranny #TheCrueltyIsThePoint

Show threadNonilexMay 16

In a letter sent on Thurs to employees who had been fired, the #Trump admin cited “the government’s convenience” as a reason for the terminations. The employees were under so-called personal services contracts, making them easier to let go than regular full-time employees with full #CivilService protections.

#VOA #journalism #FourthEstate #labor #law #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Constitution #despot #tyranny #AmericanAutocracy

Show threadJoyce Bell   🇺🇦🇨🇦May 16
@Nonilex 🤮