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Kari Lake finally got a government job, even if it isn’t the one she wants.
It’s not Governor of Arizona, which Lake lost to Katie Hobbs in 2022 despite her multiple failed lawsuits alleging the contrary. It’s not U.S. Senator, a job she lost to Sen. Ruben Gallego — DEI hire! — this past November. Nor is it even the head of Voice of America, the state-run international news agency that Donald Trump “selected” her to run in December.
On Monday, the former news anchor and MAGA devotee placed her right hand on a stars-and-stripes-covered Bible to take the oath of office as a special advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. USAGM announced Lake’s appointment on Thursday.
“Looking forward to serving America, streamlining the United States Agency of Global Media and everything it oversees,” Lake tweeted.
I got sworn in today🇺🇸
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 3, 2025
Looking forward to serving America, streamlining the United States Agency of Global Media and everything it oversees. pic.twitter.com/cqDSGEC6VA
It’s not clear what Lake’s new role entails or how long she’ll serve in it. Phoenix New Times reached out to Lake but has not heard back. A spokesperson for USAGM confirmed her swearing-in and said Lake "will oversee and advise agency leadership on Administration priorities as well as implement the policies and strategies needed to streamline the agency, its networks, and its grantees."
Lake is a special advisor and not running VOA because Trump can’t actually unilaterally appoint her to the latter position. The head of VOA is selected by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board in tandem with the head of USAGM. Trump’s pick to lead USAGM — conservative political activist and writer L. Brent Bozell III — still needs to be confirmed by the Senate. A date for his confirmation hearing has not yet been set.
The IBAB will work alongside Bozell, if he’s confirmed, to appoint the next head of the VOA. No more than three members of the IBAB can be from the same political party, meaning one Democrat must support Lake in order for her to lead VOA.
That’s a lot of ifs, but there’s a bigger one. Billionaire bureaucrat Elon Musk has suggested disbanding VOA altogether. Lake, perhaps sensing another sought-after job slip away, has broken MAGA ranks to argue against the idea of shutting it down.
Last Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Lake said the agency wouldn’t be “Trump TV” and could be a “weapon” against the “information war.” “I believe it is worth trying to save,” Lake continued. “With a relatively small budget, along with honest reporting, we can spread the values of freedom all over the world and prevent trillion-dollar wars.”
