WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit against the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for illegally concealing records such as resumes of radical political appointees within the agency.
This is part of AFL’s ongoing effort to uncover exactly who is implementing the Biden-Harris agenda across the federal bureaucracy. AFL has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuits to obtain these records to publish on the Woke Wagon, an interactive resume and records database.
The Justice40 Initiative is the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. So far, it has secured approximately $613 billion in funds for more than 500 programs across 19 federal agencies.
As a “critical component of the Justice40 Initiative,” CEQ developed an Environmental Justice Scorecard and a Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). At first, environmental justice advocates were concerned that race was not explicitly listed as a factor. But CEQ officials explained, “we wanted to develop the screening tool so that it would capture the needs and the conditions of racial groups,” but “surviving legal scrutiny should always be an important consideration,” and the tool would still “lead the government to the same places as a race-based approach: communities of color.”
In February 2023, the Biden-Harris White House ordered each federal agency to update its progress on “new or revised policies and programs … to ensure equitable access and opportunity for underserved communities.”
In response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced in May 2023 that it would prioritize Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant awards “to projects that address the needs of disadvantaged communities” and instructed state and local governments to use CEQ’s screening tool.
FEMA also incorporated a “Supplemental Guidance on Equity and Environmental Justice” into its grant application process so that “FEMA as a whole prioritizes access for and meeting the needs of underserved and disadvantaged communities.”
FEMA even adopted CEQ’s screening tool to ensure post-disaster “equity.”
FEMA is just one of the 19 federal agencies that are part of the Biden-Harris Justice40 Initiative.
In her previous government roles, CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory “led operational efforts focused on Environmental Justice and diversity initiatives” and “supported the development” of a tool that outlined “legal authorities for advancing environmental protection of low-income and communities of color.”
AFL is fighting to shed more light on the Chair and other political appointees working at CEQ in the Biden-Harris administration—including their education, work experience, and other qualifications.
Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Executive Director:
“So-called ‘equity’ has infected and affected every facet of the federal government, including at the Biden-Harris CEQ. And CEQ, in turn, has helped to further infect other agencies in the executive branch, like FEMA, by creating a so-called ‘Environmental Justice Scorecard’ and a ‘Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool’ — which are being used to radically transform the federal government into an ‘equity’ cult that elevates race and sex above need. We are going to do everything in our power to uncover exactly who is pulling the strings behind the scenes and expose this unlawful activity,” said Gene Hamilton.
Read the lawsuit here.
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Photo credit: Adobe Stock Images / Montri
