Voice of America (U.S. Agency for Global Media), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, Minority Business Development Agency.
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday seeking to dismantle seven additional federal agencies. Everyone paid very close attention to the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. Many of us were intensely following the gutting of an agency that is tasked with protecting the educational rights of poor children, children with disabilities and children of parents seeking citizenship in the United States. At the same time, however, he was also penning the destruction and decimation of the above mentioned seven agencies.
The heads of these agencies were directed to to eliminate all functions that are not statutorily mandated. The leaders should also “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law". This means...unless spelled out directly all tasks are stopped and all people who work for the agency that performed those tasks are fired.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media may mean nothing to those of us in the mid-west minding out business and shopping for socks at the local Walmart but for those individuals living in countries where dictators control every move they make Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia provides broadcasts in 49 languages and has a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people. It's gone. “VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America’s story and by providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny,” (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/us/politics/trump-order-voice-of-america.html)
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service works to prevent and resolve work stoppages and labor disputes by federal employers and federal contractors. Again, this may not seem to directly affect middle America, but we'll wait and see.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars "brings fresh thinking and deep expertise to the most pressing policy challenges we face today. We convene scholars to create a global dialogue of ideas that Congress, the administration, and the international policy community can act on".(https://www.wilsoncenter.org/experts) So what? So, when ethical and practical decisions are being considered by the global community the United States has experts who join those conversations to help determine the positive and negative outcomes of those decisions. With the gutting of this agency we lose our voice.
Institute of Museum and Library Services, along with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is one of the largest conduits for federal arts funding in the US. This is one that all of us may feel directly. A substantial number of libraries in small communities rely on federal grants to keep their doors open. Programs that often move artifacts from one small community library to another are almost certainly gone. Librarians cannot buy electronic resources without the support of federal grants or charging their communities additional taxes. We all know about museums. Without these our history, or the skies, or amazing works of art cannot be seen. “Museums are not only centers for education and inspiration but also economic engines — creating jobs, driving tourism, and strengthening local economies.”
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessnes, The mission of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is “to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the federal government in contributing to the end of homelessness.
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) plays an important role in generating economic growth and opportunity in some of our nation's most distressed communities. By offering tailored resources and innovative programs that invest federal dollars alongside private sector capital, the CDFI Fund serves mission-driven financial institutions that take a market-based approach to supporting economically disadvantaged communities. These mission-driven organizations are encouraged to apply for CDFI Certification and participate in CDFI Fund programs that inject new sources of capital into neighborhoods that lack access to financing.
Minority Business Development Agency, MBDA promotes the growth of Minority Business Enterprise through the mobilization and advancement of public and private sector programs, policy, and research.
Again, not all of these may impact each individual reading this blog but if you or your family utilizes online or in person libraries, if your family visits a national museum or a local museum, if your community wants to establish an enterprise zone for new business development, if you know someone who has had to move in with another family because of a job loss or medical issue, then these cuts will affect you directly.
Thank you for reading this blog, thank you for sharing with your friends. Stay strong!
Add comment
Comments