On June 14, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13875, directing the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of federal advisory committees and recommend actions to improve their utility or eliminate those deemed unnecessary. The order required federal agencies to review their existing advisory committee structures within 120 days and report their findings back to OMB. This mechanism activated a government-wide audit that resulted in the consolidation and elimination of certain advisory committees across multiple federal agencies. By centralizing control over these advisory bodies through OMB, the order effectively concentrated executive authority over which external voices would have formal access to federal decision-making processes.
Federal advisory committees serve as institutional channels through which scientists, academics, industry representatives, public health experts, and citizen advocates provide formal input on policy matters. The direct effects of this executive order extended to researchers, professional associations, and advocacy organizations whose members served on committees now subject to elimination or consolidation. Committee participants lost formal advisory roles, and agencies lost structured mechanisms for incorporating expert input into regulatory and policy decisions. The government-wide review process disrupted ongoing committee work and created uncertainty about which advisory structures would survive the evaluation.
This action represents part of a broader Trump administration pattern of constraining democratic input mechanisms and consolidating executive control. When contextualized alongside subsequent actions targeting voting access, press freedom abroad, and attorney-client relationships, the advisory committee review reflects a consistent approach to narrowing institutional channels through which alternative voices can influence governance. The selective elimination of advisory committees—whether driven by cost concerns or ideological preferences—mirrors the administration's simultaneous expansion of presidential pardon power and attacks on legal representation of political adversaries, each reducing institutional constraints on executive authority.
No major legal challenges emerged against this executive order itself, though government watchdog groups raised concerns about the opacity of the evaluation process and potential politicization of committee eliminations. The order remained active, with consequences embedded in the permanent restructuring of advisory committee landscapes across federal agencies.
Executive Order 13875: Evaluating and Improving Federal Advisory Committees
🗳️ Democracy · First Term (2017–2021) · 🤖 AI-categorized
President Trump signed Executive Order 13875 on June 14, 2019, directing the Office of Management and Budget to evaluate federal advisory committees and recommend actions to improve their utility and eliminate unnecessary committees. The order required agencies to review their advisory committees and report findings within 120 days. Confirmed effects included the initiation of government-wide reviews of advisory committee structures and subsequent elimination or consolidation of certain committees across federal agencies.