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Employees at Radio and TV Marti, based out of Miami, have been on placed administrative leave after the Trump administration began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming.
On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.
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WATCH HERENBC6 obtained a letter the U.S. Agency for Global Media sent out to its employee's confirming they have been placed on administrative leave without pay.
Previously, NBC6 Investigates has been closely monitoring Radio Marti after the Department of Government Efficiency focused on the "terminations" of certain building leases with government agencies in South Florida.
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One of the leases DOGE says is “terminated” is for the Jorge Mas Canoa Building – headquarters for the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting’s Radio and Television Marti operation – saving taxpayers $5.32 million by ending its $1.5 million annual lease.
During NBC6 Investigates' reporting on Radio and Television Marti, U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Miami) praised DOGE's efforts in attempting to reduce spending but said killing Radio and Television Marti – with savings of more than $26.6 million a year – is one cut he is not willing to accept.
“No, I don’t have information about it, and I don’t support eliminating Radio Marti. I support revamping it, but I don’t support eliminating it. I think it’s vital the people of Cuba get free, unedited information," Gimenez said in response to NBC6 Investigates' reporting.
NBC6 has reached out to several Florida representatives on this latest development but has not heard back.
On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior advisor to the agency, posted on X that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America and Radio Marti staff on paid administrative leave.
The agency also sent notices terminating grants to Radio Free Asia and other programming run by the agency. Voice of America transmits United States domestic news into other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Europe and Marti beam news into countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions like China, North Korea and Russia.
Combined, the networks reach an estimated 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organizations trying to extend U.S. power and combat authoritarianism that includes USAID, another agency targeted by Trump.
The latest reductions are especially provocative because the Agency for Global Media is an independent agency chartered by Congress, which passed a law in 2020 limiting the power of the agency's presidentially appointed executives. Trump has already taken several moves to gut congressionally-mandated programs, setting up a potential Supreme Court showdown over the limits of presidential power.
Trump's order requiring reductions also includes several other, lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
The Trump administration has already made several controversial moves regarding Voice of America, including suspending a respected journalist who noted criticism of Trump and canceling contracts that allowed VOA to use material from independent news organizations, such as the Associated Press.
