Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) are in the sights of Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur appointed by President Donald Trump to oversee the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk commented on a social media post by Richard Grenell, the U.S. Special Envoy for Special Missions, who said the radio networks are “state-owned media” and “are a relic of the past.”
“Yes, shut them down,” Musk wrote in his reply to the post. “Europe is free now (not counting stifling bureaucracy). Nobody listens to them anymore. It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money."
As previously reported by Inside Radio, DOGE wants to defund National Public Radio (NPR). DOGE Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has asked the leaders of NPR and PBS, to testify to the subcommittee in the coming weeks. DOGE says it is looking into the “systemically biased news coverage” of the two public media outlets.
Additionally, a bill has been introduced in Congress that would specifically prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio. The proposed No More Funding for NPR Act of 2025 would not only cut off future funding of NPR but also require that any money that had earlier been allocated but not yet been spent be permanently rescinded.
(Inside Radio)
