Kari Lake, who heads a federal agency that includes the Voice of America, defended hundreds of layoffs and contract cancellations Wednesday in her first appearance before Congress.
“This place is rotten — it’s rotten to the core,” Lake said, as she described the broadcast operations she has sought to reform as the senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Lake sharply criticized the federally funded news operations under her purview, calling them “incompetent” and “corrupt.” She is seeking to eliminate about 1,400 jobs, which would be 85% of the USAGM workforce.
Layoff notices were sent out last week to more than 600 employees, who are fighting in court to keep their jobs.
Republicans at a House hearing largely defended Lake’s efforts to cut back the broadcast operations, and many agree with her that VOA has a left-leaning bias.
But Rep. Michael McCaul, R-TX, said he wants to make sure the U.S. still has a broadcast signal into Iran, given what has been taking place there.
“We need to ensure the Iranian people hear the truth,” McCaul said.
Lake said she was proud of the Persian language unit that stepped up during the recent crisis: “We had a crew in on Saturday, delivering President Donald Trump’s message to the people of Iran in Farsi.”
She did not mention that dozens of the people in that unit had previously been laid off.
About 75 people at VOA were told to return to work as military action got underway between Israel and Iran earlier this month. Most were from its Persian news division and had earlier been placed on administrative leave.
While VOA is still broadcasting to Iran, the programming has reportedly been widely scaled back.
Congressional concern about loss of U.S. influence
Democratic lawmakers said they are worried that the widespread cuts will undermine U.S. soft power — the power of ideas and culture — making it easier for adversaries to spread their propaganda against American interests.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-NY, also pressed Lake on whether any extensive review of the broadcast operations was done before hundreds of jobs were eliminated.
“Do you have a record — yes or no?” he asked repeatedly.
“We have the statute,” Lake replied, noting she could provide it to lawmakers.
Meeks said he wasn’t interested in the statute, but what was done to assess the various broadcast operations.
Lake made it clear that she is carrying out an executive order that President Trump signed earlier this year.
At one point she held up a picture of the president to illustrate her support for what he wants done at her agency.
In addition to terminating employees, Lake has ended contracts for more than 500 personal services contractors.
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