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. He has previously served as the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, co-chaired the International TV Council, and served on the board of the National Council of the Humanities. He is a thoughtful, extremely talented documentary filmmaker with an infectiously upbeat personality.
During the pandemic, it is especially vital that the Voice of America and its sister entities under the U.S. Agency for Global Media have strong leadership in order to counter Chinese propaganda such as the viciously mendacious claim that the U.S. Army spread the coronavirus inside China.
As former VOA Director Kenneth R. Giddens once said, “It is vitally important to Americans that our nation should be understood worldwide; that the masses of mankind should understand that America’s ideals are lofty and unselfish; that we covet no other nation’s territory; … that we do not threaten the borders of our neighbors; … That we do not seek to impose our power on other peaceful and law-abiding nations; and that we seek only freedom, justice, and prosperity for all men.”
Republicans control the Senate. There is not even any halfway decent reason they should let Menendez and his ilk keep such an important position unfilled. It’s long past time for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to exercise his powers to bring Pack to a vote — and to make sure he gets confirmed.
