Lawmakers are trying to determine funding for the American-sponsored news outlets meant to permeate authoritarian regimes, but they’re in a tough spot: President Donald Trump and his top officials want to shut those outlets down entirely.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media “is not needed,” Kari Lake, a close Trump ally and senior adviser at the agency, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. She described USGAM as “a serious threat to our national security” and complained that the news outlets it funds have hired “a shockingly high number of foreign nationals.”
Trump’s team has tried to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media and cut off money for news organizations it funds. Those moves have faced legal challenges as well as opposition from some Republicans who see the work as vital.