President Donald Trump's administration has begun making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organisation's director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.

On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law.

That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.

On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, whom Trump named a senior advisor to the agency, posted on X that employees should check their email.

That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.

“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Michael Abramowitz, the organisation's director, said in a statement.

He added that “virtually” the entire 1300-person staff was placed on leave.

Voice of America transmits United States domestic news into other countries, often translated into local languages.

The Trump administration has already made other steps to assert its authority over Voice of America, and this week cancelled contracts that allowed VOA to use material from independent news organizations, such as The Associated Press.

Trump's order requiring reductions also includes several other, lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a non-partisan think tank, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.