WASHINGTON — One day after President Donald Trump blamed the Biden administration and diversity, equity and inclusion policies for the devastating midair collision near Reagan National Airport this week, the Congressional Black Caucus called out the president for what it described as his insensitivity.
“Rather than empathize with the families of the 67 victims of this heartbreaking disaster to unify a grieving country, or even offer his prayers, [he] chose to capitalize on this tragedy by furthering his racist, insane agenda against America’s diverse employees,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said at a news conference Friday morning at the Capitol.
While the cause of this week's midair collision is unknown and under investigation, Trump on Thursday said air traffic controllers had to “be at the highest level of genius” and quoted from the Federal Aviation Administration website, saying the agency sought to hire people with medical issues such as “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”
Clarke, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trump’s comments were “to further his administration’s purge of America’s minority employees. Again and again, this president has reiterated that if you’re Black, brown, Latino, LGBTQIA, a woman or belong to any marginalized community in this country, he fully believes you stole your job. And he believes you deserve to have it taken away.”
During the news conference with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the Congressional Black Caucus tied Trump’s DEI comments to the many executive orders he has signed since taking office that are seeking to unwind federal hiring diversity initiatives, as well as the Office of Management and Budget memo issued Monday to freeze federal grants and loans.
The White House has since rescinded the memo, and a federal judge temporarily paused the funding freeze. But aspects of the directive could still take effect.
“Meals on Wheels, Head Start, public safety programs like violence interruption initiatives and grants to police officers and firefighters are vital,” said Jeffries, who was flanked by representatives of every program he mentioned. “They must be protected. We are committed to making sure that they are protected.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday the Trump administration intends to pause funding until it can be determined whether the funding fits with Trump’s priorities. The now-rescinded memo issued by Matthew Vaeth, the acting OMB director, stated: "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.'
“We've seen the Biden administration spend money like drunken sailors,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “It's a big reason we've had an inflation crisis in this country, and it's incumbent upon this administration to make sure, again, that every penny is being accounted for honestly.”
Jeffries and Clarke said they intend to combat Trump’s policies legislatively and in a bipartisan manner. They said members of the Congressional Black Caucus serve on every House committee and subcommittee.
“Working through our legislative channels, we will certainly make sure that Donald Trump recognizes that the American people are not going to fall for his foolishness,” Clarke said. “We will not stand idly by why he tries to commandeer this democracy and turn it into a dictatorship.”
Jeffries said the caucus is committed to finding bipartisan common ground “whenever and wherever possible in order to make life better for everyday Americans, particularly as it relates to driving down the high cost of living. But at the same period of time, we are going to push back against far-right extremism in defense of the American people whenever necessary.”
