The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) sent the last of its layoff notices to more than 600 employees at the Voice of America (VOA) on Friday, according to a senior official.

The layoffs began earlier this month, when USAGM began sending “Reduction in Force” (RIF) letters to hundreds of employees. By Friday, the last of the affected workers were notified that their jobs were cut, according to USAGM Senior Advisor Kari Lake.

All told, 639 employees received RIF notices between June 5 and Friday afternoon. Among the affected employees were Persian-language workers who were laid off earlier this year, but asked to return to work last week in order to cover the Israel-Iran conflict.

Most of VOA’s television and radio operations have been suspended since March, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring USAGM and six unrelated agencies to cull their operations and fire anyone deemed expendable.

More than 1,000 employees and contract workers were affected by the move, which sparked legal challenges, some of which are still pending in court. Many public service contractors, or PSCs, were informed last month that their layoffs were permanent, and some now face the possibility of being deported from the United States because their work visas are tied to full-time employment.

On Friday, after reports surfaced that USAGM had finished its firings, a judge overseeing a case brought by several VOA employees ordered an emerging hearing on a pending motion. The hearing is scheduled for next Monday, and requires attorneys from USAGM and those representing the affected VOA workers to appear in person, according to court records reviewed by The Desk.

On most of its satellite feeds, VOA has aired an endless promotional loop promising that the resurrection of the service will “present the policies of the United States” and “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news.”

Behind the scenes, the few remaining workers at VOA are preparing to replace much of its former programming with news packages and shows produced by One America News (OAN) after Lake and OAN’s parent company Herring Networks signed a memorandum of understanding that gives USAGM a royalty-free license to repurpose OAN material. The Desk first published the contract after receiving it through a Freedom of Information Act request.

No programming from OAN has aired on VOA or any other channel operated by USAGM so far, but most of the television monitors inside VOA’s Washington, D.C.-based newsroom are now tuned to OAN’s domestic channel on a 24-hour basis, according to two sources.

The VOA was originally established during World War II to serve as a counter to propaganda radio broadcasts aired primarily in Europe. By contrast, VOA set to paint the United States in a positive light by offering facts-first, unbiased and reliable news and information about the war.

That mission continued through the decades, with VOA influencing other radio and television broadcasters like Radio Martí in Cuba, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty in the former Soviet territories and Radio Free Asia, which airs radio programming into China and other countries on that continent.

VOA has not shied from covering matters of controversy in the United States: It reported critically on desegregation efforts in southern states during the 1950s and 1960s, the Vietnam War, the September 11 attacks, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 20-year war in Afghanistan and the two-year coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

VOA’s coverage of the COVID-19 health crisis sparked some controversy within the first Trump administration, with the outlet accused of repeating Chinese propaganda in its radio and TV broadcasts, something that its editors and reporters denied.

There were signs that a second Trump administration would spell trouble for the Voice of America. Weeks before his inauguration in January, Trump said he intended to appoint Lake — a former news anchor who worked for a Fox-owned TV station in Phoenix before several unsuccessful political runs — as the Director of VOA, a position that requires Congressional confirmation.

While awaiting confirmation, Lake has instead served as a special advisor to USAGM, which provides funding and oversight to VOA. The special advisor position carries no direct responsibilities or oversight, but Lake has been tremendously influential in deciding the direction of the broadcaster since her role started in March.

In addition to the OAN contract and the VOA firings, Lake was instrumental in the VOA dropping its newswire contacts with Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse; at the time, she said the move was intended to save taxpayers money, and predicated on the idea that VOA reporters and editors should be writing and publishing their own stories.

“We should be producing news ourselves — and, if that’s not possible, the American taxpayer should know why,” Lake said.