VOA Staffers Remain on Paid Leave as Costs Mount
The Trump administration is spending approximately $1.6 million weekly to keep 420 Voice of America employees on administrative leave, according to a recent State Department inspector general report. This ongoing cost follows the March 2025 dismantling of the agency, which placed nearly 1,000 staff on leave and cut hundreds of contract workers. While a federal judge struck down the initial mass layoff plan, the agency remains largely defunct. New leadership is slowly moving to restore some staff, but critics argue the prolonged shutdown has caused irreversible damage to the network's global audience and journalistic integrity.
