Trump admin moves to shutter another taxpayer-funded think tank

Nearly all employees at the Wilson Center, a taxpayer-funded foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C., were abruptly placed on leave Thursday as part of a sweeping government downsizing campaign under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Roughly 130 staffers were blocked from their work accounts and ordered to vacate the premises by the end of the day, according to internal communications obtained by The New York Times. The move came just days after Elon Musk’s DOGE task force reportedly entered the building, signaling the center’s closure was imminent following a March executive order.

“This Executive Order eliminates non-statutory functions and reduces statutory functions of unnecessary governmental entities to what is required by law,” the order’s fact sheet reads. “Affected entities include the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars … This action builds on an Executive Order President Trump previously signed to reduce unnecessary governmental entities and Federal advisory committees.”

“Indigenous peoples protect with their own life the richness and diversity of life, contributing to environmental equilibrium and, for that reason, contributing to the well-being of all of humanity,” says @LuizEloyTerena in a new interview from @BrazilInst.#IndigenousPeoplesDay

— The Wilson Center (@TheWilsonCenter) August 9, 2021

The Wilson Center’s workforce reduction follows a now-familiar playbook from the Trump administration’s government overhaul strategy. DOGE has already dismantled or hollowed out several federal institutions and nonprofit entities that rely on government funding — most similarly the U.S. Institute of Peace.

A small core of five personnel — protected by the center’s 1968 congressional charter — will remain: the center’s president, two federal employees and two fellows, according to The Times.

Some 30% of the Wilson Center’s budget is derived from federal funds, with the remaining 70% coming from private benefactors, according to its website. The center calls itself a “model for the successful implementation of a public/private partnership.”

“Congress supports the Wilson Center through an annual appropriation; however, 70 percent of the annual operating budget must be raised from private sources to ensure the Center’s continued role in ‘the dialogue of democracy,’” the website reads.

Prior to DOGE’s intervention, the Wilson Center has served as a nonpartisan diplomatic policy center, hosting initiatives like the Africa Program, which aims to “enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa” and “offer practical options for tackling key challenges,” such as climate change, which the center says impacts food and water security, as well as quelling violent uprisings. There are several ongoing armed conflicts on the continent, including in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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