President Trump signed an executive order directing the elimination of seven additional federal agencies responsible for jobs such as labor mediation and homelessness, funding state museums and libraries and overseeing government funding of news outlets around the world.
The order, issued just before midnight Friday, directs the largely obscure agencies to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
It also orders the agency heads to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel.” Leaders of each entity must submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance within seven days.
“This order continues the reduction in the elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary,” the order states.
Targeted for elimination are:
• The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is the parent company of Voice of America, which funds international media.
• The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, a government-funded think tank.
• The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries, archives and museums in every state.
• The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which aims to prevent and end homelessness.
• The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which resolves work stoppages and labor disputes.
• The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which works to expand economic development for underserved communities.
• The Minority Business Development Agency, which aims to grow minority-owned businesses.
Mr. Trump is once again testing the bounds of presidential authority as he works to reduce the size of the federal government. The U.S. Agency for Global Media is congressionally chartered as an independent agency, and, in 2020, Congress passed a law to limit the power of the agency’s chief executive, a presidentially appointed position.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. It has a budget of roughly $270 million and more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages and has a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people.
Its goal is to provide unbiased news and culture to audiences across the globe, but Mr. Trump heavily criticized the news outlet for its editorial decisions since his first term. Since returning to the White House, Mr. Trump named Kari Lake to serve as a special adviser at Voice of America. She is a fierce Trump loyalist who lost bids for governor and U.S. Senate in Arizona.
Ms. Lake said last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference that Voice of America won’t be “Trump TV” on her watch.
Mr. Trump has also nominated conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media. He has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
Since taking office, Mr. Trump and billionaire Elon Musk and the 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 laying off more than 1,300 workers and hundreds more had accepted separation packages, nearly halving the agency’s staff.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk have promoted the cuts as a way to save billions in tax dollars, but several of their moves have been halted by federal judges. On Thursday, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal employees who were fired last month because they had probationary status.
