by Matthew Holloway | Aug 12, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Legal documentation obtained by AZ Free News has revealed detailed allegations surrounding the pending termination of Voice of America (VOA) Director Michael Abramowitz and the assertions of U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Acting-CEO Kari Lake that efforts to block his termination are unconstitutional.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Abramowitz received a notice of reassignment to become the Chief Management Officer of the VOA’s Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station of the International Broadcasting Bureau in Greenville, NC. It was conveyed to him in a July 8th memo that “this geographic reassignment was needed to ensure adequate front-office supervision of USAGM’s primary domestic transmission facility for VOA content during this key transitional period.”
Per the response to Abramowitz’s legal motion, USAGM leaders informed Abramowitz at that time that his “presence in Greenville was needed to support an evaluation of the potential for an expanded USAGM staff presence at that facility.”
In a notification sent to Abramowitz, Senior Advisor to USAGM John Zadrozny wrote:
“The memorandum further directed you to complete and return the acknowledgment section to the Office of Human Resources at ExecutiveResources@usagm.gov no later than July 29, 2025.
“It also stated in no uncertain terms that, should you decline to accept the reassignment, you would be subject to removal under adverse action procedures pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 7543. On July 29, 2025, you declined the reassignment.”
In a post to X on Monday, Lake explained, “The Former VOA Director was offered the opportunity to continue his employment at our transmitting station in North Carolina, a place that could benefit from his experience. Unfortunately, he declined his reassignment.”
The document further describes the justification for Abramowitz’s removal, stating, “The reassignment to Greenville was strategically aligned with agency priorities. Specifically, your presence at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station was needed to ensure executive-level oversight and leadership during a critical period. This new role would have included directing and focusing staff at the facility on clearly defined operational and strategic priorities, while continuing to maintain and improve day-to-day operations there. It also involved providing regular feedback, direction, and training to ensure the facility staff remained engaged in fulfilling key agency objectives, including efforts to streamline agency functions in accordance with statutory requirements.”
Addressing Abramowitz’s argument that “Congress expressly provided that the ‘head[] of Voice of America . . . may only be . . . removed if such action has been approved by a majority vote of the [International Broadcasting] Advisory Board,’” the USAGM leadership counters that “the Chief Executive Officer, acting on the President’s behalf, may lawfully remove the Voice of America Director, an inferior officer.”
In the filing, USAGM argues, “The power to remove an inferior officer can be vested only in ‘the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments,’” citing the U.S. Constitution as well as other legal precedents. “Here, that means the Voice of America Director—an inferior officer—must be removable at will by the President or the Agency’s Chief Executive Officer (the head of the Agency) acting on the President’s behalf.”
The agency also argues that, along constitutional grounds, due to the USAGM’s status as an executive branch agency, the U.S. District Court “lacks the power to enjoin Mr. Abramowitz’s removal as the Voice of America Director.” It notes that “under traditional principles of equity, courts of equity have no power over appointments and removals.”
In a brief statement to AZ Free News, Lake wrote, “We have numerous SES (Senior Executive Service) employees, all of whom are paid handsomely, and some of whom have been sitting home on paid administrative leave collecting a paycheck, but not working. That’s not fair to the taxpayer. We have positions where we need their skills, and we are attempting to get them into place where they can be helpful to our mission.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Jonathan Eberle | Aug 12, 2025 | Economy, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Lucid Group, the electric vehicle startup known for its luxury Air sedan, disappointed investors after missing second-quarter earnings expectations and trimming its production forecast for 2025.
The company reported $259.4 million in revenue for the quarter ending June 30, falling short of Bloomberg’s $262.4 million consensus estimate. While that figure marked an improvement over the $200.6 million recorded a year ago, Lucid posted a larger-than-expected adjusted loss of $0.24 per share and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $632.1 million.
Gross margins fell by 21%, which Lucid attributed to tariffs. The company ended the quarter with $4.86 billion in liquidity, a closely watched metric as it continues to burn cash. Production guidance for 2025 was revised to between 18,000 and 20,000 vehicles, down from the 20,000-target set earlier this year. In the April–June period, Lucid produced 3,863 vehicles and delivered 3,309, bringing its first-half totals to 6,075 units produced and 6,418 delivered.
For much of its short history, Lucid’s lineup consisted solely of the Air sedan. The automaker has recently begun ramping up production of the Gravity SUV, though early output has been modest. Fewer than 1,000 units were built in the first quarter, most of which went to Saudi Arabia, home to Lucid’s largest investor, the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
In 2016, the Arizona State government made a deal with Lucid to open operations in Arizona. At that time, the Arizona Republic reported that the company could receive as much as $46.5 million in taxpayer subsidies over time. The company’s primary manufacturing facility remains in Casa Grande, Arizona.
In July, Lucid announced a partnership with Uber to supply 20,000 battery-electric vehicles for a planned robotaxi service over the next five years.
Lucid’s near-term sales outlook also faces headwinds from the expected expiration of the U.S. federal $7,500 EV tax credit on Sept. 30. To bolster its stock price, the company plans a 1-for-10 reverse stock split, which would lift shares to roughly $10 based on current valuations and help avoid the risk of trading below $1. Shares of Lucid (LCID) fell nearly 2% following the earnings announcement.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 11, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Video footage of Senator Ruben Gallego donning an apron and flipping burgers for the cameras in Iowa appears to show the publicity stunt backfiring on the Arizona Democrat as a chorus of merciless boos could be heard arising from the heckling crowd.
The video, shared by Turning Point Action Field Representative John J. Trotta IV, picked up traction on X with Trotta writing, “Ruben Gallego gets overwhelmingly booed while flipping patties at the Iowa State Fair. Iowans see right through radical Ruben and know he’s nothing but a fraud!”
Host of The Afternoon Addiction on 550 KFYI Garrett Lewis shared the post with the caption, “Iowans are brutal to @RubenGallego! It’s so good! So savage! You love to see it!”
Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake shared a much different memory of her 2024 trip back to her childhood home, writing, “I had a wonderful time at the Iowa State Fair last year. I even got to educate a New York Times reporter about the various genders. ‘The New York Times should try to milk a cow and then try and milk a bull and see how that goes.’”
Lake quipped in a comment, “Of course, @RubenGallego thinks cows have nuts, so he might be in for a rude awakening there too,” referring to an August 2023 video of Gallego lampooning Republicans as people whose “cultural identity” consists of owning guns and driving jacked up trucks with “cow nuts” hanging off their tailgates.
Notabl, as AZ Free News observed at the time, “Cows don’t have testicles, or ‘nuts’; only bulls do. Hence the centuries-old proverbial folly, ‘milking the bull.’ Furthermore, if Gallego knew anything about pickup trucks, the ‘nuts’ hang from the tow hitch, NOT the tailgate.“
A torrent of posts from Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer followed, with Bowyer writing in one, “Ruben Gallego is upset because we ruined his trip to Iowa. Just wait until he goes to New Hampshire!”
He followed this up with the observation that “This guy was making Pfizer burgers in Iowa today? Or was that just for Tacos. We know who owns Ruben between Big Pharma and George Soros!”
After his Iowa debacle, Gallego is set to visit the West Valley next to deliver a Capitol update at the West Valley Regional Chamber on Wednesday, according to the West Valley View.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Jonathan Eberle | Aug 11, 2025 | Economy, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
The Greater Phoenix housing market continued its gradual reset in June 2025, signaling a clear shift in momentum from sellers to buyers according to a report from The Ravenscroft Group. Home prices dipped modestly, builders ramped up incentives, and buyers found themselves in the strongest negotiating position in years—marking a pivotal moment for one of the nation’s hottest real estate regions.
While not a repeat of the 2008 housing crash, market data shows a softening across key indicators, as elevated mortgage rates, seasonal slowdowns, and affordability pressures weigh on demand.
According to the group, the median sales price in Phoenix edged down to $449,500, a 0.3% dip from May’s $451,000. Phoenix’s Market Index—a measure of supply vs. demand—fell to 71, further cementing the area’s tilt toward a buyer’s market.
With 30-year fixed mortgage rates hovering around 6.89%, homebuilders are stepping in to maintain momentum. Many are offering interest rate buydowns into the mid-3% range, along with generous closing cost credits, appliance packages, and landscaping perks. This reality has made new construction homes particularly appealing to buyers, many of whom are priced out of the resale market due to borrowing costs.
Real estate trends varied across the Valley in June. Buckeye saw the steepest price shift at -8% while Fountain Hills and Phoenix proper each declined by -6%. Cave Creek transitioned into buyer’s market territory, and Avondale moved from a seller’s to a balanced market.
As of June, the groups says 2 cities are in seller’s markets, 7 cities are considered balanced, and 9 cities have shifted into buyer’s market territory. Outlying cities like Arizona City, Casa Grande, and Gold Canyon lean even more heavily toward buyers.
High recurring costs—such as HOA dues and special assessments—are driving buyers away from attached housing. The listing success rate for condos and townhomes dropped to 58% in May, the lowest since 2011. Manufactured homes fared worse, with fewer than half of listings resulting in a sale.
The Phoenix housing market isn’t collapsing—it’s correcting. Buyers are better positioned than they’ve been in years, and sellers are being forced to recalibrate.
This moment offers unique opportunities for those ready to act—especially in a region still driven by long-term population growth and economic expansion. But navigating it successfully will take strategy, patience, and flexibility on both sides of the deal.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 10, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Kari Lake’s work as Acting-Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has progressed significantly in recent months after damning revelations in June on the state of the agency and its subsidiary operations including Voice of America (VOA). In her latest move to root out waste and international influence at VOA, Michael Abramowitz, the Biden-appointed now-former Director of VOA, was reportedly terminated Friday after he refused reassignment to a posting in Greenville, North Carolina.
According to a legal filing from Abramowitz, he was informed on July 8, 2025, that he was “removed from his ‘current position of Director, Voice of America’ and reassigned to a different one—as Chief Management Officer in Greenville, North Carolina,” and if he did not “accept” this reassignment he would face “adverse action procedures.”
Abramowitz reportedly responded in an email that the decision to “remove [him] from [his] position as Director of Voice of America[] . . . is illegal” because, “[u]nder the law,” the VOA director “can only be removed . . . with the approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.”
As reported by the Washington Post, Abramowitz was subsequently terminated for “failure to accept directed geographic reassignment.”
Responding to the initial WaPo article on Abramowitz’s termination, Lake lampooned it as “biased,” and “anti-American propaganda,” in a post to X.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Abramowitz has consistently worked in opposition to Lake and the Trump administration, actively speaking out against Lake’s program to “rightsize” the agency to within its statutory limits.
Responding to a raft of cost-saving measures Lake announced in early May, which included the termination of at least 584 employees and the end of J-1 visa employment, Abramowitz said he was “heartbroken” over the downsizing.
“I find this action inexplicable, and to my knowledge, no rationale has been provided by USAGM for this decision,” he wrote in a statement to the Post. “We will continue to make efforts to help individual PSCs, especially those who face possible return to hostile countries, in any and every way we can during this difficult time,” he continued, in a clear break from USAGM leadership under Lake.
In a letter he posted on Linkedin, Abramowitz informed VOA staff of his imminent ouster writing, “I wanted you to be aware that my lawyers have filed a motion in federal court today challenging efforts by USAGM to remove me as director of Voice of America. They believe USAGM’s action is plainly illegal. I can’t say much about the details of the case beyond what is laid out in the court filing. But I do want to stress that this action is not about me personally but about preserving the rule of law and fulfilling VOA’s vital mission of delivering fact-based news and information about America to the world.”
Correction: This story has been updated to reference Kari Lake’s new title as Acting-Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Jonathan Eberle | Aug 10, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Arizona lawmakers are intensifying their investigation into systemic failures within the state’s child protection system after the tragic deaths of three children—each of whom had prior involvement with the Department of Child Safety (DCS). Senator Carine Werner (R-LD4), Chair of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, is spearheading the effort through a formal legislative probe targeting the state’s oversight of licensed group homes.
The investigation was first launched earlier this year following the gruesome murder of Emily Pike, a 14-year-old who ran away from a DCS-licensed facility in January and was later found dead. Now, with the deaths of Zariah Dodd, a pregnant 16-year-old fatally shot after leaving a similar facility, and Rebekah Baptiste, a 10-year-old who died despite multiple abuse reports to DCS, momentum behind the inquiry has grown significantly.
“These tragedies make it painfully clear that when our child protection systems—both state and tribal—fail, the consequences can be horrific,” Werner said in a statement. “We must explore opportunities for system improvement. That is the work ahead of us, and we will not stop until no child in Arizona falls through the cracks.”
The first stakeholder meeting of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Child Safety will take place on Wednesday, September 3. It marks the second phase of a broader review process that will include legislative hearings, stakeholder input, and proposed reforms. While the meeting will be closed to the public and media, Werner is expected to brief reporters in the following days. Earlier this year, Werner called on the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to launch a formal investigation into DCS’s regulatory oversight. She has voiced serious concerns about “underlying systemic issues” that may be placing children and even staff at risk within state-licensed group homes.
“Arizona’s licensed group homes have repeatedly made headlines for egregious mistakes that have cost lives and threatened the safety of staff,” Werner said at the time. “There may be underlying systemic issues requiring immediate reforms, so we must assess where mistakes are occurring and determine the next steps.”
The Joint Oversight Committee’s work will involve officials from DCS, law enforcement, tribal governments, lawmakers from both parties, and social service providers. Their goal: assess current policies, examine communication breakdowns, and identify both short-term interventions and long-term legislative fixes.
As the investigation unfolds, Arizona finds itself once again grappling with the conversation of how to ensure that tragedies like these never happen again.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
