Trump Moves to Axe 7 Federal Agencies, Including Key Library and Media Funds

President Trump signed an executive order Friday to dismantle seven federal agencies, including the one overseeing Voice of America (VOA) and other government-funded media outlets. The order demands that agency heads eliminate all non-mandatory functions and scale back required ones to the legal minimum.

Among the targets is the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a critical source of funding for libraries, museums, and archives across the country. The IMLS provides grants that help keep cultural institutions afloat, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Without it, public libraries—which rely on its funding to expand literacy programs, digitize collections, and maintain essential services—could lose a vital financial lifeline.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia, is also on the chopping block. With a $270 million budget and a reach of more than 361 million people, the agency is a key player in providing independent journalism to global audiences, particularly in authoritarian states. By Saturday morning, nearly all VOA journalists had been placed on administrative leave, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, VOA’s director, Michael Abramowitz warned on social media that the cuts would “effectively shut down” the broadcaster.

Also slated for elimination are the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which works to prevent labor disputes, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank focused on public policy research. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, responsible for coordinating federal efforts to combat homelessness, is similarly under threat as are the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provides financial support to struggling communities, and the Minority Business Development Agency, which assists minority-owned businesses.

The move is part of a broader push by the administration to shrink the federal government, though it is expected to face legal challenges. A federal judge in California has already ruled against some of the administration’s recent agency cuts, calling them an overreach. In a memo granting an injunction against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which has been blamed for ordering firings at dozens of federal agencies, the judge wrote that despite heads of federal agencies having been directed by OPM to fire probationary employees, “each agency had (and still has) discretion to hire and fire its own employees.” 

Meanwhile, leaders of the targeted agencies have been given seven days to submit plans for compliance, but with Congress chartering some of these entities, more legal and political battles are looming.