Comer, Greene Launch Investigation into Longstanding Security and Management Failures at U.S. Agency for Global Media

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) are conducting oversight into longstanding security vulnerabilities and widespread mismanagement at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Information obtained by the Committee indicates that USAGM for years routinely misused visa programs to hire inadequately vetted foreign nationals—including individuals from countries hostile to the United States—and that senior USAGM officials abused their authority by awarding grants to entities with significant conflicts of interest. To address potential security vulnerabilities and misconduct, the lawmakers today sent a letter to USAGM Senior Advisor Kari Lake, requesting documents and information to ensure the agency and its grantees are no longer posing national security risks or engaging in improper or unethical activities.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting oversight of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, especially longstanding security vulnerabilities exacerbated by mismanagement—a situation that persisted for years at the agency. The Committee has reason to believe that USAGM routinely and improperly utilized visa programs to employ poorly vetted foreign nationals, including from nations adverse to the United States. The Committee is also aware that USAGM officials abused their authority when awarding grants, including by awarding them to entities despite major conflicts of interest. The USAGM has a budget of just less than $1 billion to fulfill its mission of ‘inform[ing], engag[ing] and connect[ing] people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.’ The agency has two ‘federal networks’—Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting—and five purportedly independent ‘networks and grantees,’ which include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia (RFA), Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Open Technology Fund (OTF), and Frontline Media Fund,” wrote the lawmakers.

Multiple investigations have revealed persistent abuses at the USAGM, its networks and grantees. The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) uncovered serious security vulnerabilities at USAGM, including improper grant awards by RFA leadership and the employment of more than 1,500 individuals in sensitive national security roles based on falsified or unauthorized background checks. In addition, USAGM misused the J-1 visa program to bring in foreign nationals for journalistic roles that could have been filled by American citizens. These practices, combined with inadequate vetting, raise concerns that USAGM may have enabled foreign espionage and exposed U.S. national security to significant threats.

“Reportedly, the Biden Administration reversed ‘long-overdue and necessary reforms, including security reforms’ that the first Trump Administration implemented to address repeated requests ‘by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) that had been ignored by USAGM,’” continued the lawmakers. “On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order eliminating the non-statutory components and functions of the USAGM. The Committee seeks to make certain that in its new posture, USAGM, its networks, and grantees do not further abuse their authority and leave the agency and the country vulnerable to national security risks. These concerns must be urgently addressed to ensure that USAGM does not continue to pose national security risks and engage in improper or unethical behavior through its networks and grantees.”

Read the letter to USAGM here.