Nearly all Voice of America (VOA) staff members have been placed on leave after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-run news agency.

On Friday night, Trump ordered his administration to reduce several agencies to the minimum required by law under an order titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy”.

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The decision affected the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), housing Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, and Radio Marti, which broadcasts Spanish-language news in Cuba.

The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders slammed the decision, saying it “threatens press freedom worldwide and negates 80 years of American history in supporting a free flow of information”.

The decision to gut the government-run, pro-democracy news agency comes as Republicans have accused publicly funded media outlets of being biased against conservatives.

In a statement, the White House said Trump’s executive orders “will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda” before listing criticisms of VOA, including allegations of left-wing bias.

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On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a US Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior adviser to the agency, wrote on X that employees should check their emails.

Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz wrote in a LinkedIn post that “virtually” his entire staff of 1,300 journalists, producers, and assistants had been put on administrative leave, including himself.

“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Abramowitz said.

“VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America’s story and by providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny,” Abramowitz said.

VOA, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, reaches 360 million people a week and operates in nearly 50 languages.

Notices of termination were also sent to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, whose president and CEO, Stephen Capus, said in a statement that the decision would be a “massive gift to America’s enemies”.

“We’ve benefitted from strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL’s (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) storied history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won’t have access to the truth about America and the world,” Capus said on Saturday.

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The order to significantly reduce government agencies also included the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the US Interagency Council on Homelessness.