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Caught Our Eye

BBG picks up aide to GOP critic of Trump

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on July 14, 2017

The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which may soon come under more control by the White House, recently picked up the legislative director to a Republican congressman who is a noted Trump antagonist.

Gordon Larsen, now the agency's legislative counsel for congressional affairs, had worked as Rep. Chris Stewart's (R-Utah) legislative director since 2013.

Stewart, who last year made headlines for nicknaming Trump "Our Mussolini," is in the spotlight again this week after calling for Donald Trump Jr.'s questioning before the House Intelligence Committee, of which Stewart is a member.

This spring, the congressman held a conference on "America's Role in the World," where John Lansing, the BBG's current CEO and board director took part in a panel discussion on news and democracy.

The BBG oversees the Voice of America and all government-funded foreign broadcasts. 

Thanks to a largely unnoticed provision in last year's National Defense Authorization Act, the president will likely soon appoint a single CEO to replace the independent agency's bipartisan board of governors. Trump is reportedly considered Steve Bannon-ally Michael Pack for the position, according to Politico. Pack leads the Claremont Institute, which has defended Trump and last year published a glowing profile of Vladimir Putin, calling him perhaps the "pre-eminant statesman of his time."