Kari Lake's media agency will lay off over 600 journalists from Voice of America, reducing personnel by 85% since March. Lake states the layoffs dismantle a "bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy" and end taxpayer funding of an agency plagued by "dysfunction, bias and waste."

Democrats pointed to reports about Russia and China stepping up their own media efforts to fill the void left by stilled American voices. “Reliable news is no longer accessible for millions of people around the world,” said U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, a Rhode Island Democrat. “If our adversaries are cheering this decision, why would we do that?”