President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) last week to eliminate seven federal departments.
According to the EO, Trump determined these bureaucratic agencies “unnecessary.”
The departments that will be eliminated are:
- the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service;
- the United States Agency for Global Media;
- the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution;
- the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
- the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness;
- the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and
- the Minority Business Development Agency
The head of these departments will have to submit a report to Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to explain “components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.”
Furthermore, the EO says that Voight or the head of an agency charged with reviewing these departments can “reject funding requests for such governmental entities to the extent they are inconsistent with this order.”
Kari Lake, the Trump administration senior advisor at the US Agency for Global Media, said the agency she advises has “giant rot” from top to bottom and burdens American taxpayers.
“While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule,” she added.
The American Library Association, which will be affected by this EO, said “eliminating the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Trump administration’s executive order is cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer.”
This follows Trump’s other moves that have sought to reduce the federal government.
Also, last week, the Department of Education announced it was reducing its workforce by 50 percent.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said this resolution ensured “resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.”
In March, Trump told McMahon that he wanted the education secretary to put herself out of a job.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
