Congress Agrees to Fund Voice of America

Lawmakers from both parties and houses of Congress have agreed to provide about $653 million to fund Voice of America’s (VOA) parent agency, rejecting President Donald Trump’s demand to defund the international broadcaster and shut it down.

A bipartisan spending bill released Sunday would allocate $643 million for broadcasting from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, plus nearly $10 million for capital improvements. That figure is down from the $867 million appropriated for the agency each of the past two years; however, it is more than four times the $153 million Trump requested that Congress provide to "support the orderly shutdown of USAGM operations."

The outlay is included in a broader bipartisan spending deal negotiated by House and Senate appropriators. The package still requires House and Senate approval before heading to Trump's desk.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.