Congressional Concerns Over Partisanship and a Lack of Professional Independence: Critical Junctures and the Evolution of U.S. Government Information Agencies

The nomination by Pres. Donald J. Trump of Michael Pack as the Chief Executive
Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the agency that oversees the
Voice of America (VOA) and other civilian international broadcasters, was politically
controversial. Democratic senators feared that if confirmed, Pack would pursue a
partisan political agenda through the broadcasters because he was a known associate
of President Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. This study shows
that fears that a president could use government agencies to advance a partisan
political agenda emerged long ago when the government first started establishing
information agencies, such as the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and the
Office of War Information (OWI). Such fears are likely to continue.