Donald Trump wants Kari Lake to run Voice of America. That's not his call. | Opinion

Chris Brennan, USA TODAY
·5 min read

President-elect Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he wants Kari Lake to run Voice of America was heavy with his usual bombastic nonsense but light on details for how she might actually get the job.

Trump proclaimed Lake as the solution to "lies spread by the Fake News Media." But he doesn't have the power to install her atop that federal agency.

Congress took that power from presidents at the very end of Trump's first term in 2021, overriding his veto of the legislative package that included this reform.

Why was that reform needed? Well Michael Pack, Trump's first-term appointee to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, served as an agent of partisan chaos and controversy in an agency meant to combat propaganda.

ADVERTISEMENT

It seems clear that Lake, who spent the past two years pretending she won a race for governor in Arizona that she lost, has been selected to pick up where Pack left off. But only if she can win support from a majority of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, which Congress empowered to hire and fire agency heads like the director for Voice of America (VOA).

So Trump's latest attempt to disrupt a federal agency with political shenanigans will run headlong into congressional action created to effectively curtail that sort of foolishness.

Kari Lake isn't going to be in charge of Voice of America anytime soon

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake campaigns in Prescott, Ariz., on Nov. 4, 2024.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake campaigns in Prescott, Ariz., on Nov. 4, 2024.

The advisory board, by law, has seven seats ‒ three Democratic appointees, three Republican appointees and the U.S. secretary of State (or that official's designee.) The U.S. Senate finally got around to approving the six appointees last December.

ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican Trump selected as the next secretary of State, still needs to be confirmed by his colleagues in the Senate.

What's clear here is that Lake, if she gets the job, isn't going to be in charge anytime soon. She may act as if the job is already hers, just as she cosplayed being a shadow governor. But the law is the law.

Opinion: With Kari Lake as Voice of America head, Trump now has his MAGA propaganda arm

David Seide, an attorney with the nonprofit public interest law firm Government Accountability Project, has represented whistleblowers from the Agency for Global Media and its outlets. He said Trump suggested Lake for VOA instead of appointing her to head the agency because that post requires Senate approval. He didn't think Lake could win support in the Senate.

One of the whistleblowers Seide represented is Jamie Fly, now a Republican appointee to the International Broadcasting Advisory Board. Fly, who previously led the agency's Radio Free Europe, testified in September 2020 to the House Foreign Affairs Committee about how Pack fired him that June along with other outlet directors in a political purge.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fly's testimony called on Congress to institute reforms for how those outlet directors are hired and fired. That's the legislation that went into effect after Congress overrode Trump's veto.

Trump seems committed to testing congressional enforcement

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake campaign in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on Oct. 13, 2024.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake campaign in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on Oct. 13, 2024.

It's important to note that this congressional reform is a new and untested guardrail for democracy. And Trump loves nothing more than banging the car against those kinds of guardrails, testing for weaknesses. Here, Lake could be his latest crash test dummy.

A key component in the mission for Voice of America is a "firewall" in place for 30 years that "prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news."

Based on their combined history, I don't think Trump or Lake will much care for that kind of restriction.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The challenge for Kari Lake is, by law, she must comply with the editorial independence requirements," Seide told me, while also suggesting that it's unlikely to happen. "She's obviously being put there to blow up the agency."

If Lake lands the job, the Government Accountability Project will be listening for whistleblowers if it all goes awry. And by if, I do mean when.

Opinion: Syria is now free from Assad. And this Trump nominee has some explaining to do.

The Office of Special Counsel last year released a report detailing and confirming several serious complaints made by whistleblowers about Pack's actions while he led the Agency for Global Media. It concluded that Pack's "improper activities" amounted to things such as "an abuse of authority" and "a gross waste of funds, or a violation of law, rule, or regulation."

The past feels like a prologue here. I read about things Pack did and can totally envision Lake doing more of the same.

Lake is exactly what Trump wants ‒ somebody with zero commitment to facts

The Agency for Global Media isn't some ham radio operation piping hope into the homes of people living under dictatorships. It's six networks, with a budget of $944 million, has a weekly audience of 420 million people in 100 countries, listening in 64 languages.

Trump treats government agencies like a petulant boy on Christmas morning eager to smash to pieces his newest toys. Lake, a former television news anchor who just lost a bid for an open U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, has long amplified and duplicated Trump's lies about rigged elections.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

She's also spent the past two years attacking all sorts of news outlets for reporting things she didn't want reported. Just like Trump, if the news doesn't serve up exactly want she wants, then it's all "fake."

Lake can whinge and wail all she wants about the media. But if she gets this job, she'll be a media executive under intense scrutiny in an organization that has already proved to be staffed with people willing to call out improper behavior.

The International Broadcasting Advisory Board should think long and hard about whether it wants to enable the kind of openly obstreperous management it was created to prevent.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Lake run Voice of America? Maybe. It's not Trump's call | Opinion

Latest Stories

  • Trump’s calls with British leaders reportedly left staff crying from laughter

    Trump has not yet spoken with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer since taking office on Monday

  • Canada, Mexico Steelmakers Refuse New US Orders

    (Bloomberg) -- Some steelmakers in Canada and Mexico are telling customers that they are refusing new orders to the US on concerns that President Donald Trump soon will reimpose duties.Most Read from BloombergWhat Happened to Hanging Out on the Street?Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian GasBillionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over WildfiresHow Sanctuary Cities Are Preparing for Another Showdown With TrumpHoboken PATH Station Will Close for Almost a Month on Jan. 30Canada’s St

  • Wall Street Journal Shreds Trump’s Most Recent ‘Vindictive Whim’ As A ‘New Low’

    The president may find himself unable to escape responsibility, warned the newspaper’s conservative editorial board.

  • U.K. Magazine Expertly Trolls Donald Trump With Front Page ‘Apology’ For The Ages

    Private Eye apologized “unreservedly” for its previous critical coverage of the president. But then came an utterly brutal twist.

  • Trump's billionaire buddies could be the answer to Canada's trade tariff woes, expert says

    While signing executive orders, U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada and Mexico could see a 25 per cent trade tariff as early as Feb. 1. As the date fast approaches, one expert believes Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos could be the solution to the problem.

  • Trump suggests his plan for Gaza Strip is to ‘clean out the whole thing’

    President Donald Trump indicated Saturday that he had spoken with the king of Jordan about potentially building housing and moving more than 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, a remarkable proposal from a sitting US president.

  • James Carville Says Better to Let Trump ‘Punch Himself Out’

    Former strategist James Carville has urged the Democratic Party to be patient and bide its time following President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders in his first week back at the White House. Speaking with MSNBC’s The Beat on Friday, Carville told anchor Katie Phang that the Republican president’s opponents ought to let him “punch himself out” before weighing how best to deal with the fallout of his “America First” agenda. As Phang put it to Carville, “On a fascism scale of one to 10, w

  • Trump says he may consider rejoining World Health Organization

    President Donald Trump said on Saturday he may consider rejoining the World Health Organization, days after ordering a U.S. exit from the global health agency over what he described as a mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises. The U.S. is scheduled to leave the WHO on Jan. 22, 2026. Trump announced the move on Monday after he was sworn in for a second term in the White House.

  • Donald Trump Trolls ‘Fake News’ With Plans For Third—and Fourth—Term at Vegas Rally

    Like so many high rollers before him, President Donald Trump appeared to be pushing his luck in Las Vegas on Saturday night, in a speech he made at a rally. According to Mediaite, the newly elected Trump teased the crowd by alluding to serving more than two terms as president: “It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve. Not once, but twice—or three times or four times,” Trump said, before clarifying he has—at least for now—no real plans to extend his time in the Oval Office. “Headlines f

  • Can Trump just order new names for Denali and the Gulf of Mexico? A geographer explains who decides what goes on the map

    How do place names get made and then changed? There’s a process. But it involves people as well as bureaucracy, so it’s not simple or quick, as President Trump is about to find out.

  • Trump Fired Highest-Ranking Woman in Military at His Ball

    President Donald Trump fired the highest-ranking woman in the military while at a ball celebrating his role as commander in chief. The Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Linda L. Fagan, was the first female uniformed leader of a branch of the armed forces. Fagan learned she had been fired while waiting to take a photo with Trump at the Commander in Chief Ball on Inauguration Day, The New York Times reported.

  • Donald Trump Snubs Gavin Newsom In Schedule For L.A. Visit To Survey Wildfire Damage; POTUS Says He Wants Voter ID As Condition For Disaster Aid — Update

    UPDATED, with additional comments and participants: Donald Trump departed the White House on Friday for his first trip since his inauguration, with an itinerary that includes a visit to Los Angeles to survey fire damage and get an update on the recovery efforts in the Pacific Palisades. But one name is not on the list …

  • Trump Supporters Are Already Selling Their Inauguration Swag

    Commemorative items included in goodie bags that President Donald Trump gave his VIP inauguration guests are being sold online for extortionate amounts less than a week after the ceremony. A gift bag presented to Trump’s personal guests on Monday included a special edition bottle of his favorite beverage, Diet Coke, Page Six reported. Other items taken home by Trump’s nearest and dearest included a commemorative medal on a wooden stand embossed with the faces of Trump and his vice president, JD

  • Trump's White House says deportation flights are underway, posting pictures of people being loaded into US Air Force C-17s

    The Pentagon signaled earlier this week that Air Force C-17s could be used to fly deportation flights. That's happening now.

  • Watch Fox News Toadies Absolutely Lose It Over Criticism Of Donald Trump

    A "Daily Show" montage poked fun at their somewhat over-the-top responses.

  • Mitch McConnell Almost Sinks Hegseth With Dramatic ‘No’ Vote

    Donald Trump’s Department of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth narrowly won Senate confirmation Friday night, in the face of damning charges of sexual abuse and alcohol-induced debauchery. It took newly inaugurated Vice President JD Vance rushing to the Senate floor to cast a tie-breaking vote to salvage Hegseth’s nomination after former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell cast a stunning “no” vote against Hegseth, calling out Trump’s strong-arm tactics. The vote against Trump, whom McConnell openly su

  • Stephen A. Smith’s Trump Take Stuns Bill Maher’s Live Audience

    ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith seemed to stun Bill Maher’s live audience on Friday night as he took down Democrats for prioritizing “issues that pertain to less than 1% of the population.” Smith was joined by actor Jesse Eisenberg and California Rep. Ro Khanna in a round table discussion with Real Time host Maher as he alleged that Democrats enabled President Donald Trump’s sweeping victory. “Here’s the deal. The man was impeached twice. He was convicted on 34 felony counts,” said Smith. “And the

  • Newsom Vows to Crash Trump’s Wildfire Devastation Tour

    California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to crash President Donald Trump’s Friday trip to Los Angeles to survey wildfire damage in the state. Newsom said he plans on a courteous greeting for the MAGA chief, despite the barrage of insults Trump has thrown his way throughout the disaster—including repeatedly branding him “Newscum.” For his part, Newsom has accused Trump of politicizing the state’s emergency. Despite the tension, Newsom told reporters he’d show up to greet Trump regardless of whether

  • Nearly a third of Elon Musk’s EV-loving Dutch customers may sell their Teslas: ‘There’s been a debate in the Netherlands around Tesla shame’

    An opinion poll conducted last week might finally shed some light on just how many of Musk's customers suffer from "Tesla shame."

  • Elon Musk appears on video at German far right campaign event

    Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany's AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far right party for the second time in as many weeks. Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside party leader Alice Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people. "It's good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything," Musk said.