Controversial U.S. Agency For Global Media CEO Michael Pack Resigns At Biden Administration's Request

Pack Resigns

A day after appointing a new Board of Directors for RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, RADIO FREE ASIA, and MIDDLE EAST BROADCASTING NETWORKS, U.S. AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA CEO MICHAEL PACK has exited the agency at the request of President BIDEN.

PACK, a conservative documentary filmmaker and TRUMP appointee, submitted his resignation (effective 2p (ET) WEDNESDAY) after being asked by the incoming administration to step down; in his resignation letter, he acknowledged that despite being appointed to a three-year term, the CEO of the agency serves at the pleasure of the sitting president, although he claimed to have "no political agenda" and added that "it is disheartening that my resignation has been requested," calling it "a partisan act that harmed an office designed to serve the American people and national interest."

PACK's eight-month tenure at the USAGM, parent of VOICE OF AMERICA as well as the other international broadcasters operated for the U.S. government, was marked by the appointment of like-minded allies to replace network heads with unusual agreements keeping them in place for years beyond the TRUMP administration's tenure, and the demotion of VOICE OF AMERICA reporter PATSY WIDAKUSWARA for asking a question of Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO, who was invited to give a partisan speech on the VOA.

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