Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

Man, 91, shocks tiny firehouse with $500K gift: ‘Nobody knew how much I’d saved’

Retired cop meets abandoned baby he helped 23 years ago: ‘What are the odds?’

The world’s coolest hotels want to tell you a story

Cruise ships to return to Baltimore two months after bridge collapse 

Some cruise prices are about to get a little more clear

Ask Amy: Can’t a single woman eat alone without interruption?

Miss Manners: Miss Manners: Gag gift falls flat

Carolyn Hax: Is it weird to ask other people to care about you?

Did Trump’s lawyers catch Michael Cohen in a ‘lie’? Let’s take a look.

Now playing off-Broadway: Trump’s synchronized sycophants

Biden faces pressure to pardon ex-Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby

Biden continues outreach to Black voters; Trump heading to Minnesota

At campus protests, ‘DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA’!

CNN gets a presidential debate — and a much-needed win

Boeing delays spaceflight again as it continues to struggle with leak

These ISIS news anchors are AI fakes. Their propaganda is real.

Why this company’s biggest fans turned against it

Joey Gallo returns, but Nats endure another quiet offensive night

A taco will always be a taco — no matter what we call it

Walter Johnson’s jersey from 1920 showdown with Babe Ruth is up for auction

Trump promises tax cuts and fewer rules. CEOs shouldn’t fall for it.

Tariffs against China hamstring the transition to a clean energy future

The Post’s choices in Northern Virginia’s U.S. House primaries

In photos: The scene in Houston after severe storms killed at least 7 people

D.C.’s secret garden

Best Places to Work in the Federal Government 2023

With its energy network nearly destroyed, Ukraine already fears the winter

Mexican taquería’s new Michelin star puts street eats on par with gourmet food

IDF recovers bodies of 3 Israelis killed on Oct. 7

Trump

See more coverage in your recommendations

Get the weekly Campaign Moment newsletter

Set alerts for major election developments

Election 2024

The Campaign Moment newsletter

Politics alerts

Jonathan Newton

A Trump appointee with a short but controversial record of overseeing Voice of America and other federally funded news agencies has declined to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s representatives as they seek access to records and personnel.

Michael Pack, who has headed the U.S. Agency for Global Media since June, has defied requests from Biden’s transition team to make officials from his agency available to answer questions about the agencies’ operations.

Biden’s aides have indicated that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/25/21302625/joe-biden-president-voice-america-fire-michael-pack">he would replace Pack</a>, who has ordered a series of sweeping changes that have shaken up VOA and sister agencies, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office for Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Free Asia.

People who work at news agencies under Pack’s supervision say his resistance is an open act of defiance against the incoming administration. Although Biden hasn’t named a replacement for Pack, his  nominee probably would undo Pack’s changes.

Trump’s nomination of Pack — a documentary filmmaker whose work, such as a profile of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has <a href="https://manifoldproductions.com/index.html">embraced conservative themes</a>, — was held up for nearly two years by objections from Senate Democrats and some Republicans. Trump finally broke the logjam in April by launching <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/white-house-attacks-voice-of-america-claiming-it-is-promoting-chinese-propaganda/2020/04/10/b59bddea-7b6f-11ea-9bee-c5bf9d2e3288_story.html">an extraordinary attack on Voice of America,</a> saying it was spreading foreign propaganda, and pressuring Republicans to confirm his nominee.


<i>[NEW: Voice of America interim director pushed out by Trump-appointed overseer in final flurry of actions to assert control]</i>


USAGM oversees an array of international broadcasters and news organizations that disseminate news and commentary to more than 300 million people per week, primarily in countries that suppress domestic news sources. Pack’s critics have repeatedly said his operational and administrative changes since taking office were designed to turn the broadcasters into mouthpieces for Trump’s policies and initiatives — the very thing that the networks are supposed to counter around the world.

Pack has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/voice-of-america-firewall-michael-pack-trump/2020/10/27/02a4fbae-1854-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html">asserted the right to breach</a> the "firewall" that protects VOA and related agencies from interference by political appointees, effectively making himself the arbiter of news coverage. He said the firewall rule passed by his agency's board of directors just before he took office was based on "flawed legal and constitutional reasoning" and made USAGM "difficult to manage."

Among his first acts was to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/after-departure-of-voice-of-america-editors-new-trump-appointed-overseer-fires-heads-of-four-sister-organizations/2020/06/18/db8822ca-b166-11ea-8f56-63f38c990077_story.html">fire or suspend</a> the heads of each of the broadcasting networks under his supervision, as well as senior managers at USAGM, who subsequently <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/30/whistleblowers-allege-misconduct-agency-for-global-media-423758">filed a whistleblower complaint</a> and lawsuit against him. He has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/with-their-visas-in-limbo-journalists-at-voice-of-america-worry-that-theyll-be-thrown-out-of-america/2020/08/02/e9882c8a-d33f-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html">declined to renew</a> expiring visas of foreign journalists employed by VOA, citing unspecified “security” concerns. He also launched an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/04/919266194/political-aides-investigate-voa-white-house-reporter-for-anti-trump-bias">investigation of VOA’s White House bureau chief</a>, Steve Herman, over alleged bias in his reporting; the investigation did not result in any public findings or disciplinary action.


<i>[How Trump’s obsessions with media and loyalty coalesced in a battle for Voice of America]</i>


A federal judge last month <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/judge-slaps-down-trump-appointee-who-has-sought-to-reshape-voice-of-america-and-related-agencies/2020/11/21/125d285a-2baa-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html">handed Pack a stinging rebuke</a>, issuing injunctions that prohibit him from making personnel decisions involving journalists at the networks; from directly communicating with editors and journalists employed by them; and from investigating any editors or news stories produced by them.

In the past month, as Trump has asserted that Biden’s election victory was tainted by fraud — a claim that has been rejected by judges who have thrown out dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump’s campaign or his allies — some federal agencies have been slow to cooperate with Biden’s transition teams. At the Defense Department, chief of staff Kash Patel has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-loyalist-kash-patel-blocking-some-pentagon-officials-helping-biden-n1250053">blocked some career officials</a> and experts from giving information about defense issues to the ­transition team. A similar foot-dragging response seems to be playing out at USAGM, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to comment.

Among other things, Pack has instructed associates not to discuss his agency’s operations, budget and personnel with Biden’s transition team, as transition officials have requested, these people said.

Biden’s team has asked USAGM’s management and the heads of its networks to prepare three-to-five-page memos that detail current operations, personnel and budget information, policy and regulatory priorities, covid-prevention steps and technology issues, among other topics. It has also requested interviews with 32 officials and employees, including Pack and VOA’s Herman.

Richard Stengel, who is leading Biden’s USAGM transition, declined to comment, as did the transition’s spokesman, Ned Price.

As a practical matter, a late start in gaining access to information could slow the Biden administration oversight of USAGM.

In a response received after this story was published online, a USAGM spokesperson wrote via email, “USAGM has provided hundreds of pages of requested documents to the Biden-Harris transition team, held several meetings with the team — and has more scheduled —  and is working transparently and cooperatively with the transition as required by law.”

Stengel, the former editor of Time magazine, already has some institutional knowledge and experience. As a State Department official in charge of public diplomacy and public affairs during the Obama administration, Stengel was frequently in contact with the agency’s board of directors. When VOA’s former editorial director, Amanda Bennett, resigned just before Pack assumed office, <a href="https://twitter.com/stengel/status/1272644298241081347?s=20">he tweeted praise </a>for her.

Five-time winner of National Press Club award for media reporting and criticism. Finalist, Mirror Awards, 2023. Spirit Award for reporting on sexual harassment, 2018.

University of California at Los Angeles, BA in communications studies

Paul Farhi has been a media reporter at The Washington Post since 2010. Prior to that, he was a financial reporter, a political reporter and a Style reporter.

Paul Farhi

The Washington Post

Voice of America Building


staff

Live updates

Md. primary

Neb. primary

W. Va. primary

Key issues

2024 calendar

Balance of Power Pair

U.S. House Aggregate

U.S. Senate Aggregate

Elections

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/law

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/media

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court/trial_(court)/litigation

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/politics/government/executive_(government)

iptc-media/politics

iptc-media/arts_culture_entertainment_and_media/mass_media

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court/trial_(court)

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Asian Content_legacyaux_8xg

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

advertising/B2_Civil Law_legacyaux_lpw

advertising/B2_Congressional Elections_legacyaux_r48

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Crime, Law & Justice_legacyaux_xvt

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Government & Policy_legacyaux_mza

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Politically Active - DO NOT REMOVE_legacyaux_lmp

advertising/B2_Politics and Policy_legacyaux_pay

advertising/B2_Politics_legacyaux_8f3

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_Technology and Cyber Security 3.16.15_legacyaux_3jl

advertising/B2_Transportation, Logistics, and Industry_legacyaux_kre

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Verizon KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Novo Nordisk KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Porsche KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/CME KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

Media

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/lifestyle&limit=20

Lifestyle

Washington Post Lifestyle gives you the latest fashion and beauty trends, home d&eacute;cor pointers, food and recipe ideas and reviews, relationship advice, travel ideas, wellness tips and much more.

prism://prism.query/elections-feed-with-transparency-labels,News,Analysis,Perspective,Advice,Opinion/&limit=20

Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter.

News about the 2024 election, plus video and opinions.

prism://prism.query/todays-articles-by-subtype-and-section,live-all,/elections,[now-4h+TO+now]/?limit=1