____________________________________________________________________________________
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who serves as the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee chairwoman, on Thursday announced an investigation by her panel into alleged “gross negligence” and “rampant cronyism” that she says took place at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is supposed to be a neutral media outlet funded by taxpayers.
The investigation comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order dismantling several federal agencies, including the USAGM, which oversees Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” the executive order said.
The administration claims hundreds of millions of dollars in waste occurred at the dismantled agencies. The Georgia Republican said she wants a separate investigation into what she said was a “direct threat to national security” emanating from the USAGM.
Greene sent a letter to Kari Lake, who serves as the Trump administration’s senior advisor overseeing USAGM, Fox News reported. In the letter, the representative said that in the past decade, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found “gross negligence and intentional defiance of national security protocols, resulting in unfettered and unauthorized access of sensitive information by federal employees.”
She said that a “full-scale investigation” that was done in 2020 by McGuireWoods, an independent law firm, confirmed testimony from whistleblowers who noted that there was severe mismanagement and corruption in the agency.
Greene also said that the people responsible for the mismanagement were fired during the first Trump administration, but “nearly all” of them were rehired by the Biden administration, “allowing them to resume their previous activities with zero consequences.”
“The congresswoman is demanding access to information regarding all grant agreements awarded through the Open Technology Fund, all settlement agreements for individuals implicated in the McGuireWoods report and any additional communications or information that Lake deems relevant,” the Fox News report said.
“For years, USAGM engaged in rampant cronyism, issuing corrupt contracts to friends and family through the Open Technology Fund (OTF), while senior officials bypassed security protocols, mishandled sensitive information, and obstructed investigations,” the representative’s office said to Fox News.
Greene told the outlet that the Biden administration’s decision to rehire the people responsible for the mismanagement was an “insult to taxpayers” and a “direct threat to national security.”
“We will not allow the former Biden regime to cover up illegal activity and shield bad actors from accountability,” she said.
The federally-funded Voice of America (VOA) instructed its reporters on Friday to stop using content from the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse following the government’s decision to terminate contracts with the newswire services.
The terminations occurred amid heightened tensions between the White House and legacy media outlets, which was highlighted recently when the Trump administration revoked AP’s access to certain White House areas, including the Oval Office.
Advertisement
Lake announced the cancellation of the contracts on Thursday. According to the AP, Lake estimated the decision would save taxpayers approximately $53 million.
“We should not be paying outside news organizations to tell us what the news is,” Lake wrote on X. “With a nearly billion-dollar budget, we should be producing news ourselves. And if that’s not possible, the American taxpayer should demand to know why.”
“From top-to-bottom, this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this nation—and irretrievably broken. While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule,” Lake noted further about the VOA.