Taxpayers are still paying $1.6 million a week to keep 420 radio staffers out of work

It’s been more than a year since the Trump administration dismantled Voice of America, the largest U.S. international broadcaster, saying “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda”—yet the agency is costing the government millions even as it stopped operations.

Voice of America, one of six entities that fall under the purview of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), is a digital, web and mobile media outlet that broadcasts news to over 361 million people globally in 49 languages. In March 2025, President Trump cut the outlet and USAGM’s operations for financial reasons.

But as of July, about 420 VOA employees were still on paid administrative leave, costing taxpayers an estimated $1.6 million a week, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General. That puts the annual cost at an estimated $82.8 million.

“OIG found that USAGM could not demonstrate that it sufficiently assessed the impact that the loss of experienced personnel would have on operations,” the report read. “For example, OIG found that technical facilities and related support staff were not adequately considered when determining which employees to........

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