Today, I submitted a written testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs. Click here to download a full PDF of the testimony.
Chair Diaz-Balart, Ranking Member Frankel, and members of the Subcommittee:
My name is Luke Hogg. I am the director of technology policy at the Foundation for American Innovation, a think tank focused on promoting innovation, strengthening governance, and advancing national security. I write to respectfully request that the Subcommittee provide $60 million in funding for the Open Technology Fund (OTF) in FY 2026 to support its mission of promoting the development of technologies that support internet freedom and enable people from around the world to counter authoritarian censorship and surveillance.
In addition, I respectfully request that the Committee include report language that requires the State Department—particularly the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy—and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to submit to Congress and publicly publish a report describing the federal government’s public information and internet freedom programs. This report should focus on the impact of these programs (including the population served), the efficacy of various programs and methods employed, and should explain how the U.S. government is leveraging new technologies to narrow the global digital divide. The report should also include recommendations for how the State Department and Congress could prioritize resource allocation to expand internet freedom.
Last year, the House approved $43.5 million for OTF through USAGM, up from $40 million in FY2024 and FY2023. While it was a positive development to see Congress increase support for this important program, OTF still requires more resources to satisfy the growing demand for its services and technologies internationally. From virtual private networks (VPNs) to encrypted messaging services, OTF reportedly serves 46 million users per month with services that help users access the free and open internet and avoid authoritarian surveillance. In fact, OTF’s services are such an essential gateway to free and open media that “90% of USAGM’s Iranian audience uses OTF-supported [VPNs] to access USAGM network content.” Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the demand for OTF-backed Psiphon VPN jumped from 48,000 to 1.5 million in a matter of months.
Costing only $0.07 per user, OTF-backed technologies are the most effective and efficient way to advance USAGM’s mission of informing, engaging, and connecting people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. Yet OTF annually makes up only 5 percent of USAGM’s budget. Meanwhile, other USAGM programs are waning in effectiveness.
USAGM states in its FY2025 Budget Request that it reaches 420 million individuals weekly across 63 languages and more than 100 countries—a figure that, while striking, warrants closer scrutiny. A deeper analysis suggests that this aggregate number masks significant shortcomings. Much of USAGM’s reported audience growth originates in relatively open media environments where access to independent and Western news sources is already widespread. In contrast, its reach and influence are diminishing in the authoritarian contexts where its mission is most critical—namely, China, Iran, and Russia.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) experienced a dramatic decline in its Russian audience following the Kremlin’s crackdown on foreign media, culminating in the suspension of its operations in 2021 for the first time in over thirty years. Similarly, Radio Free Asia (RFA) faces severe limitations in China, where the “Great Firewall” renders its content virtually inaccessible. In 2024, USAGM classified RFA’s audience size as “unreportable” in China, Mongolia, and North Korea, acknowledging its inability to verify meaningful access in the regions most central to its mission.
Earlier this month, Kari Lake, who currently serves as senior advisor to USAGM, said that the agency is “not salvageable.” But the recent decision to restore OTF funding as the remainder of USAGM faces deep funding cuts demonstrates that the Trump administration wisely recognizes the value of modern information diplomacy and a pragmatic understanding of the importance of OTF. It is now up to Congress to codify the changes at USAGM that the Trump administration has begun to implement.
To promote internet freedom, help individuals in authoritarian countries access free and open media, and bring federal funding in line with the Trump administration’s agenda, I respectfully recommend the following.
First, the Subcommittee should allocate at least $60 million for OTF to ensure that it can continue its work to support freedom-enhancing technologies for people living under authoritarian regimes around the globe. This additional funding should be offset by reduced funding for other USAGM programs such as the Voice of America, RFA, and RFE/RL. If the Subcommittee decides to significantly cut the budget of USAGM or eliminate the agency entirely, I would respectfully recommend that OTF be the exception to such cost cutting.
Second, since the efficacy of the various programs at USAGM is unclear, the Subcommittee should require the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy and USAGM to coordinate and produce a report describing all U.S. government programs aimed at either informing global audiences (e.g. VOA, RFA, RFE/RL) or advancing internet freedom (e.g. OTF, USAID, Global Engagement Center). This report should include data on the number of people served by each program, the location of users, and how each program is leveraging advanced technologies to reach their audience. The report should also examine the relative efficacy of each program and recommend improvements, consolidations, and rescissions of programs found to be ineffective.
President Ronald Reagan once described America's public diplomacy initiatives as “one of the most potent weapons in our arsenal.” The Trump administration’s decision to preserve OTF signals that traditional approaches to public diplomacy must evolve to meet the demands of the digital age. To enhance the efficacy and reach of the United States' global communications strategy, federal resources should be directed toward technologies that empower individuals to access reliable information rather than sustaining legacy broadcasting platforms that are increasingly obsolete. Congress should reinforce this shift by reallocating a substantial portion of the USAGM budget to expand the capacity and global impact of OTF.
