By DAVID BAUDER and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration appointee overseeing the Voice of America has outlined job cuts that would reduce employment at the state-run news organization from over 1,000 people to 81.

The Voice of America, which has delivered news to countries all over the world for the better part of a century, has been largely silent for two months following an executive order by President Donald Trump. He believes Voice of America, and similar organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have reported with a liberal bias.

Most of VOA’s employees have been on administrative leave since mid-March amid reports that layoff notices were forthcoming.

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Kari Lake, who has been overseeing the U.S. Agency for Global Media for Trump, outlined planned employment changes in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Sen. James Risch that was obtained by The Associated Press. Lake said Trump had directed the agency “to reduce the performance of its statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”

Some VOA employees are fighting for the organization’s survival in court, and one of them — White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara — said Wednesday that it was absurd to think the staff could be cut to the levels Lake is suggesting.

“You can’t make staff this size produce content for a global audience of 360 million weekly,” Widakuswara said. “It’s comical if it weren’t so tragic. We’re not just losing our jobs and journalism, we are abdicating our voice and influence in the world.”

In April, a federal judge ruled that the administration illegally shut down VOA. But an appellate panel later said that a lower court did not have the authority to order that employees be brought back to work, keeping the agency in limbo.

In court papers filed last week, lawyers for Widakuswara and fellow plaintiffs said the administration made a cursory attempt to indicate that VOA was operational by broadcasting five minutes of content to three provinces in Afghanistan on May 27.

The Washington-area building where Voice of America has been operating has been put up for sale, while a lease has been canceled for a new building that the news operation was to move into, the court papers said.

Lake’s letter says the administration wants to keep 33 jobs overseen by her agency that broadcasts news to Cuba, along with two positions each to provide services to China and Afghanistan and in Farsi, the official language of Iran.

Lake announced last month that the pro-Trump news outlet One America News Network had agreed to provide a feed of its newscasts to VOA and other state-run services that broadcast in other countries. It’s not clear whether any OAN feeds have been used yet.

Bauder reported from New York.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army leaders on Wednesday defended spending as much as $45 million to add a parade to the service’s 250th birthday celebration on June 14 in Washington, saying it will help boost recruitment, as Congress members argued that the money could be better spent on troops’ barracks or other priorities.

Members of the House Armed Services Committee also said they are concerned that the Defense Department is shifting about $1 billion from a variety of accounts — including base housing — to cover the costs of shoring up the defense of the southern border.

Spending for the parade has become a flashpoint since it comes at a time when the Trump administration is slashing funding for personnel and programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department.

Military tanks and other military vehicles are transported via railroad to Washington, D.C. for an upcoming parade for the Army’s 250th anniversary, Monday, June 2, 2025, at Fort Cavazos near Killeen, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

While the Army has long planned for a festival on the National Mall to celebrate its 250th birthday, the parade was just recently added. President Donald Trump has long wanted a military parade in the city, after seeing an elaborate one in France on Bastille Day during his first presidential term, and June 14 is also his birthday.

U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., questioned whether the additional cost of the parade was appropriate since all the military services are facing 8% budget cuts, and said perhaps it could be used to improve troops’ quality of life or warfighting capabilities. He prodded Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on what he would prioritize if Congress wrote him a blank check for $45 million.

Driscoll replied that he thinks the parade offers a chance to tell the public about the Army. “I believe very specifically that telling that story will directly lead to a recruiting boom and will fill up our pipeline for the coming years,” he said.

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At the same time, he and Gen. Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, told lawmakers that the service has now met its recruiting goal for the year — with 61,000 recruits. Army officials have predicted for months that they would hit the target early after making a series of changes to recruiting programs, recruiters and policies over the past several years.

That prompted Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., to ask why the parade was needed for recruiting if it’s already surging.

Driscoll said the Army believes the parade “will empower an entire new generation of America’s youth to catch the spirit to serve their nation.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., defended the parade spending, saying “you cannot put a price tag on patriotism.”

House members on both sides of the aisle pressed the Army about a recent request to shift money from across the budget to support the southern border. The biggest concern, they said, is that it takes money away from base housing, which has been plagued with persistent problems, including mold, rodents and raw sewage in barracks.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., agreed the nation needs a strong border, but said lawmakers worked for the past year on a broad effort to address the housing problems. “I feel like a decision was made that undermined this whole effort that we spent the last year doing.,” he said.

Pressed on the issue by Carbajal, George acknowledged that redirecting the money has an impact on the barracks.

“If we took $1 billion out of barracks, we would be able to fix less barracks,” he agreed, but also said, ”“You have to make choices, congressman.”

Claire Thompson, one of three finalists for the PWHL’s defender of the year, became the first player to sign with an expansion team during the exclusive negotiating window on Wednesday.

Thompson, an anchor for the Frost as they won their second straight Walter Cup, finished third in points (18) among all PWHL blue liners, signed a one-year deal with Vancouver, which with Seattle will select at least seven players from among the league’s original six teams in Monday’s expansion draft.

“Claire is one of the best defenders in the world and a phenomenal leader who will help create a culture of excellence in Vancouver,” Vancouver general manager Sara Gardner Morey, Thompson’s coach at Princeton.

The Frost have protected Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein and Taylor Heise from the expansion draft and are now closer to being able to protect a fourth. Teams can protect a fourth player after losing two in free agency or the expansion draft.

Thompson, 27, had 14 assists the season, tied with Heise for second among Frost players and one behind defender Sophie Jaques.

By JIM VERTUNO AND NADIA LATHAN, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department on Wednesday sought to block a Texas law that for decades has given college students without legal residency in the U.S. access to reduced in-state tuition rates, the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on immigration into the country.

Texas was the first state in the nation in 2001 to pass a law allowing “Dreamers,” or young adults without legal status, to be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet certain residency criteria. And while two dozen states now have similar laws, the Trump administration filed the lawsuit in conservative Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers have long sought to support his hardline goals on the border.

The lawsuit also comes just a few days after the end of the state legislative session, where a repeal bill pushed by group of Republicans was considered but ultimately did not come up for a vote.

The lawsuit now asks a federal judge to block the Texas law. It leans into recent executive orders signed by Trump designed to stop any state or local laws or regulations the administration feels discriminate against legal residents.

“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “The Justice Department will relentlessly fight to vindicate federal law and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.”

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Texas has about 57,000 undocumented students enrolled in its public universities and colleges, according to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonpartisan nonprofit group of university leaders focused on immigration policy. The state has about 690,000 students overall at its public universities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, did not immediately comment on the lawsuit, and staff did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment.

The lawsuit was filed in the Wichita Falls division of the Northern District of Texas, which the state and conservative litigants have often chosen to file lawsuits challenging the federal government and issues such as healthcare and gay and transgender rights.

The Texas law was initially passed by sweeping majorities in the Texas Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, as a way to open access to higher education for students without legal residency already living in the state. Supporters then and now argue it boosts the state’s economy by creating a better educated and better prepared work force.

“Targeted attacks on Texas students who are seeking an affordable college education, led by the Trump administration, won’t help anyone, they only hurt us all,” said Luis Figueroa of Every Texan, a left-leaning public policy group.

The difference in tuition rates is substantial. For example, at the flagship University of Texas at Austin, a state resident paid about $11,000 in tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year compared to about $41,000 for students from outside of Texas. Other expenses for housing, supplies and transportation can add nearly $20,000 more, according to school estimates.

The law allows for students without legal resident status to qualify for in-state tuition if they have lived in the state for three years before graduating from high school, and for a year before enrolling in college. They must also sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible.

But the policy soon came under fire from conservatives and critics who called it unfair to legal residents as debates over illegal immigration intensified. In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Perry ended up apologizing after saying critics of the law “did not have a heart.”

Legislative efforts to repeal the Texas law have repeatedly failed, but have started to gain traction elsewhere. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, earlier this year signed a bill that will repeal that state’s in-state tuition law in July.