An executive order was issued by President Trump that is strangely not being covered by major media outlets and its impact could be worrisome. On March 13, 2017, Trump issued the “Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” The order states that a comprehensive review must be completed in approximately 180 days for recommendations to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies, components of agencies, and agency programs.
On the surface, the order seems innocuous until you realize that the order covers at least 78 agencies directly under the control of President Trump. Critical agencies including the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, and the National Trade Council will face reorganization. Components of these agencies include the Office of National AIDS Policy, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and smaller agencies related to the operation of the executive branch of government.
A notice is ordered to be published in the Federal Register, the daily journal of the U.S. government, inviting the public to make suggestions on changes. At the end of the 180-day review and suggestion period, the director of the Office of Management and Budget will submit a plan to the president “to reorganize the executive branch in order to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of agencies. The proposed plan shall include, as appropriate, recommendations to eliminate unnecessary agencies, components of agencies, and agency programs, and to merge functions.”
Within the order also is “whether some or all of the functions of an agency, a component, or a program are appropriate for the federal government or would be better left to state or local governments or to the private sector through free enterprise.”
So far within the Trump presidency, America has been shown a man who appears unbalanced on a specific agenda to benefit the wealthy. A shift in government responsibility on domestic issues such as AIDS and drug policy to the states to some is frightening.
The executive order can be viewed on the next page:
