Radio Free Asia announces mass layoffs amid funding fight with Trump administration

Radio Free Asia announces mass layoffs amid funding fight with Trump administrationtoggle caption Rod Lamkey/AP/FR172078Radio Free Asia is laying off about 90 percent of its staff and is shutting down many of its language services, citing its inability to continue paying employees after the Trump administration cut off its funding. "This work is more than a job for me and so many of the people who are part of RFA. After Trump's directive in March, Kari Lake, a Trump senior advisor who effectively runs USAGM, promptly terminated congressionally-appropriated grants to Radio Free Asia and the other nonprofit news outlets funded by the U.S. government, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). But this week, a D.C. appeals court granted an administrative stay, freezing that court order for RFA and MBN. The following day, on Friday, RFA formally laid off many of its staff who were already on unpaid leave.