President Trump on Friday signed an executive order that aims to eliminate seven federal agencies, including ones that focus on media, libraries, museums and ending homelessness.
The president directed the government entities “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” insisting they “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel.” It ordered the heads of each entity submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance within seven days.
The president targeted the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is the parent company of Voice of America’s (VOA), as well as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, which is a think tank, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is an agency that supports libraries, archives and museums in every state.
He also dismantled the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which aims to prevent and end homelessness in the U.S., the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which focuses on preventing, minimizing, and resolving work stoppages and labor disputes, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which aims to expand economic opportunity for underserved communities, and the Minority Business Development Agency, which promotes growth of minority-owned businesses.