The order targeting the agencies, largely seen as
obscure entities that address issues like labour mediation and homelessness
prevention, appeared to test the bounds of the president’s power.
President Trump has signed an executive order
yesterday, seeking to dismantle seven additional federal agencies, including
the one that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded media
outlets around the world.
Mr. Trump directed the heads of the agencies, largely
obscure entities that address issues like labor mediation and homelessness
prevention, to eliminate all functions that are not statutorily mandated.
The leaders should also “reduce the performance of
their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and
function required by law,” the order said.
Like many of the president’s moves in his wide-ranging
effort to shrink the government, the order appears to test the bounds of his
authority. Voice of America’s parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, for
example, is congressionally chartered as an independent agency, and Congress
passed a law in 2020 intended to limit the power of the agency’s presidentially
appointed chief executive.
In addition to Voice of America, the Agency for Global
Media funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The
organization, with a budget of roughly $270 million and more than 2,000
employees, broadcasts in 49 languages. It has a weekly estimated audience of
more than 361 million people.
The media outlets are intended to provide unbiased
news to audiences around the world, but Mr. Trump has criticized its editorial
decisions since his first term. Mr. Trump had already stirred fears at the
agency by tapping Kari Lake, a fierce loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for
governor and Senate in Arizona, to serve as a special adviser there.
The other agencies Mr. Trump targeted Friday are the
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which works to prevent and resolve
work stoppages and labor disputes; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank; the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, which funds and supports museums, libraries and archives; the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness, which works to prevent and end
homelessness; the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which
provides financial assistance to struggling communities; and the Minority
Business Development Agency, which aims to bolster minority-owned businesses.
Within seven days, the heads of the entities are
required to submit to Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management
and Budget, their plans for complying with the order and outline which of their
functions are statutorily required.
Since Mr. Trump took office, the billionaire Elon Musk
and his Department of Government Efficiency have sought to drastically reshape
the federal government by cutting staff and programs. On Tuesday, the Education
Department announced it was firing more than 1,300 workers, and after hundreds
accepted separation packages, the agency is set to be left with roughly half
the number of employees that it started the year with.
Mr. Musk’s group has trumpeted saving taxpayers
billions of dollars, though its claims have been undermined by posting
error-filled data. Some of its efforts have also been halted by federal judges,
including on Thursday, when a pair of court rulings called for agencies to
reinstate thousands of federal employees who were fired last month because they
had probationary status.
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