President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at eliminating a handful of federal advisory committees.
The order targets the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace – all of which have received federal funding.
It comes as the president has been working along with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to aggressively reduce the size of the federal government and minimize government waste and abuse to reduce inflation.
Cutting these governmental entities and federal advisory committees will save taxpayer dollars, reduce unnecessary government spending, and streamline government priorities, according to Trump’s administration.
The named organizations were given 14 days to submit reports to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Director) confirming that they are compliant and to give an explanation if any part of their government entity is required and to what extent.
In addition, the Administrator of USAID was asked to terminate the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. The Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will have to terminate the Academic Research Council and the Credit Union Advisory Council. The FDIC Board will be required to terminate the Community Bank Advisory Council. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has been asked to terminate the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID and the Administrator of CMS has to terminate the Health Equity Advisory Committee.
The newly signed executive order coincides with one Trump signed Tuesday instructing DOGE to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers.
That order instructed DOGE and federal agencies to work together to ‘significantly’ shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post.
Agencies will also be instructed to ‘undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force’ and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren’t legally required.
Trump is also requiring that within 30 days of the order, the President’s assistants for National Security Affairs, Economic Policy, and Domestic Policy identify and submit a list of additional committees and boards for termination.
The Trump administration stated that the American people elected President Trump to drain the swamp and end ineffective government programs that empower government without achieving measurable results.
Trump also voiced he wants to provide voters what they want – to tackle ‘all of this ‘horrible stuff going on’ – and told reporters that he hoped the court system would cooperate.
‘I hope that the court system is going to allow us to do what we have to do,’ Trump said, adding that he would always abide by a court’s ruling but will be prepared to appeal.