(April 16) Let’s set aside for now the argument about whether President Trump can or should adjourn Congress (as he has threatened) in order to make recess appointments for unfilled positions in the executive branch. Let us focus instead on why Trump is right that the Senate has been derelict in failing to confirm the nomination of Michael Pack as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
While threatening to adjourn Congress, a power presidents possess in certain circumstances but have never used, Trump specifically mentioned Pack and the vacancy at that agency, formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It comprises such entities as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia, all of which in various ways deliver news or the values of freedom to audiences around the globe.
As I wrote last November, “These outlets in years past have done wonderful work in ensuring the free flow of legitimate information while giving hope to hundreds of millions of people subject to censorship and oppression. It was especially important in fighting communist tyranny during the Cold War, and it remains a valuable tool in promoting freedom and human rights.”
At least, that’s what these entities are intended to do. Instead, as Trump’s White House staff has noted, the Voice of America’s largely leftist personnel have in recent years been at least as likely to parrot Communist Chinese propaganda as they have been to promote straight news, much less American ideals.
Shamefully, the Senate has held up Pack’s nomination for an astonishing 22 months. Liberal senators, led by New Jersey’s disgraced Robert Menendez, essentially argue that Pack is too conservative for the position.
Well, Pack is conservative. So what? Republican presidents will choose conservative leaders for executive agencies. Pack also is eminently qualified….
[The full column is at this link.]
