Trump nominates Sarah Rogers to head the agency that oversees Voice of America

The president Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which is a federal agency that oversees media outlets such as Voice of America, after a federal judge found that Kari Lake had been improperly serving as the agency's acting executive director. The president selected Rogers to become the agency's executive director with Senate approval. If confirmed by lawmakers, Rogers would replace current acting director Michael Rigas.

Prior to joining the administration in October 2025, Rogers worked as an attorney and represented the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a 2024 Supreme Court case against the New York Department of Financial Services. The lawsuit argued that state officials attempted to pressure financial institutions to sever relationships with the gun rights organization. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled unanimously in favor of the NRA, concluding that the state's actions violated First Amendment protections.

Criticism of the European approach to regulating Internet speech.

One of Rogers' most striking aspects in recent years has been his comments on European approaches to regulating speech on the Internet. In posts on the social networking site X, the Trump administration official has gone so far as to criticize some of the policies aimed at combating disinformation and misinformation, arguing that some European Union governments were using such measures to limit political speech in their countries.

Rogers also endorsed a policy adopted by the U.S. government that imposed visa restrictions on several European figures involved in the fight against disinformation on the Internet, including Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate; former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton; Global Disinformation Index executive director Clare Melford; and HateAid leaders Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon.

Echoing comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Rogers has also gone so far as to argue that the work of such figures represented a threat to Americans' freedom of speech. In a message posted on his X account, he warned that "if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil."