President Donald Trump on Friday signed an Executive Order that substantially reduces the activity and personnel at seven federal government agencies, including the parent organization of Voice of America (VOA) and other external government-backed broadcasters.
The Executive Order signed on Friday requires the heads of each listed agency to reduce their performance to only what is required by law, and to lay off or fire workers who are deemend non-essential to their core functions.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is listed among the seven agencies. It is a government-backed organization that operates VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Al Hurra. Its main purpose is to provide news, information and entertainment to areas of the world where fact-based journalism and free expression are limited, or have been in the past.
The head of the USAGM and the other six agencies are required to submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) explaining the specific steps they’ve taken to reduce activities and workers at their affected agencies within seven days of the Executive Order, which effectively creates a deadline of next Friday.
For the USAGM, the order has the potential to set up logistical and legal challenges, given certain laws in place. Five years ago, Congress passed a law that puts the authority of the president at arm’s length from that of the appointed chief executive of USAGM — even though the president is the one who appoints them to the role.
The move was intended to limit potential interference by the executive branch of government, something that has played out anyway in the weeks since Trump took office. The order targeting USAGM is the latest assault on VOA and other news outlets that have drawn Trump’s ire in the past.
Last year, Trump said he intended to nominate former TV news anchor Kari Lake to serve as the Director General of VOA. While she awaits Congressional confirmation, Lake has been appointed to serve as a special advisor to USAGM and the Trump administration; on Thursday, Lake said she was encouraging VOA to cancel its contracts with several commercial and non-profit newswires, including the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, which was characterized as a cost-cutting initiative. Trump and his administration have sparred with the AP in recent weeks over the agency’s refusal to identify the Atlantic Gulf as the “Gulf of America.” The body of water is more commonly known as the Gulf of Mexico.
Last month, VOA’s most-prominent correspondent, Steve Herman, was placed on administrative leave following criticism from some of Trump’s political allies over his news coverage. In particular, Herman’s coverage of federal budgetary and staffing cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) drew the ire of Richard Grenell, an advisor to Trump, because it included a quote from the leader of a progressive organization.
Herman expects to lose his job over the matter, but the agency is required to place him on leave for a period of time before he can be fired. He declined to speak on the record with The Desk when contacted over social media last week, but a source familiar with the matter said he is represented by the American Foreign Service Association. The VOA must actually discipline Herman beyond placing him on leave of absence before the government union is able to file a grievance on his behalf.
In addition to USAGM, the other organizations targeted by Trump’s Executive Order on Friday are the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, Institute of Museum and Library Services, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the Minority Business Development Agency.
