Donald Trump Signs Executive Order To Dismantle Voice Of America’s Oversight Agency; Employees Put On Administrative Leave

deadline.com:

Donald Trump is targeting the Voice of America and other U.S.-funded international broadcasting entities, as he signed an executive order Friday to eliminate the functions of their oversight agency.

Employees were informed this morning that they were being put on administrative leave with pay, but must be available to work if directed to do so, according to a memo obtained by the New York Times.

Trump’s order calls for the U.S. Agency for Global Media and other entities to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The order requires the head of the agency to submit a report in the next week “which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.” In addition to the Voice of America, the U.S.

Agency for Global Media oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, among other entities. But Trump’s order may face limitations short of an act of Congress, which has through the years tried to shield the journalistic entities from political influence.