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Trump Kills “DEI” Program Stopping Human Waste From Flooding in Homes

How in the world is this DEI?

Donald Trump yells in front of a bunch of mics.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Trump administration has shut down a Biden-era program to end sewage backups into central Alabama homes, labeling the whole thing “illegal DEI.”

NBC News reports that Trump ended the $26 million effort to rebuild water infrastructure in Lowndes County earlier this month, with an executive order. The program was meant to end 14 years of sewage backing up into homes in the majority-Black area. The Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, said, in accordance with the order, that the DOJ “will no longer push ‘environmental justice’ as viewed through a distorting, DEI lens.”

In 2023, an independent investigation by the DOJ found that the county’s low-income residents, mostly Black, have not had basic sanitation for generations. Human wastewater is piped into ditches and poorly constructed systems instead of wastewater systems, leaving sewage to collect in yards, open areas, and woods.

Increased rainfall in recent years due to climate change has led to contaminated water flooding into homes, vegetation, and even drinking water. It’s not uncommon for untreated sewage to back up into residents’ backyards, or even sinks and bathtubs. A 2017 study found that a third of the county’s adults suffered from ringworm, an intestinal parasite that was thought to have been eradicated in the U.S. More than 300 families in Lowndes County have to deal with this problem.

“We have to be extra sanitary because people getting sick can be a problem,” Annye Burke, a local resident, told NBC. “The health concerns are real. In 2025 we shouldn’t have to deal with this, but it is what it is.”

The Alabama Department of Health had neglected the problem, showing “a consistent pattern of inaction and/or neglect concerning the health risks associated with exposure to raw sewage,” according to the DOJ’s 2023 investigation. The ADH told NBC that “the installation of sanitation systems and related infrastructure is outside the authority or responsibilities.”

According to the Trump administration, it’s not the federal government’s responsibility either. The White House has also moved to end environmental justice in the Environmental Protection Agency, which would hurt similar efforts across the country to end environmental hazards in different communities, the majority of which are in areas where Trump supporters live. It seems that ensuring people can live free in uncontaminated areas is too woke for the right wing.

More on Trump being the worst:

Trump Gave Marco Rubio Another Job—but Doesn’t Seem to Have Told Him

Donald Trump gives his toughest jobs to his least-suspecting soldiers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Donald Trump look at each other during a Cabinet meeting
Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s announcement Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would replace Mike Waltz to serve as the interim national security adviser appears to have taken the State Department completely by surprise.

When a reporter asked State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce during a press briefing about Rubio’s new role, she was visibly caught unawares.

“It is clear that I just heard this from you,” Bruce said.

A flustered Bruce couldn’t answer questions about the announcement, clearly reeling. “Well, I have some insights as to the potential of certain things that might happen,” she vamped.

“You can have a general sense of what’s possible, and then you see that manifest usually, but I think that one thing certainly that I have learned is that things don’t happen until the president says they’re going to happen,” she added, another incredible non-statement.

Bruce admitted she’d been caught off guard, incredulously attributing Trump’s sudden announcement to “the miracle of modern technology.”

If the State Department’s spokesperson wasn’t made aware of the announcement, it’s likely that Trump’s decision was not given much time to marinate at the State Department, raising questions about whether Rubio had any advance notice at all that he’d be taking on yet another government job.

Rubio now wears several hats for the Trump administration. The secretary is also serving as the head of what remains of USAID and the acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration—and in doing so, has found himself leading both an agency that has violated the Federal Records Act and the one that is meant to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Bruce’s apparent shock also raised even more questions about the circumstances surrounding Waltz’s sudden departure earlier Thursday. The former national security adviser, who was responsible for precipitating the Signalgate scandal that rocked the White House, will now serve as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Mike Waltz Caught Checking Signal on His Phone in Cabinet Meeting

Trump’s now former national security adviser was using Signal in a room full of reporters. Here are the photos of his messages.

Mike Waltz sits in a Trump Cabinet meeting looking grim. He holds a pen in one hand and his phone in the other.
Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Mike Waltz, the Trump adviser who accidentally invited a journalist to a war plans group chat on Signal, was caught casually scrolling through his Signal messages during a Cabinet meeting Thursday. Calls and messages to or from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance could be seen on his phone, which appeared to have no privacy screen and the brightness raised to the max.

X screenshot Charlie Spiering @charliespiering Photos show Mike Waltz literally checking Signal during the cabinet meeting (via Reuters) (zoomed in photo of Mike Waltz’s messages on Signal)
Charlie Spiering @charliespiering Photos show Mike Waltz literally checking Signal during the cabinet meeting (via Reuters) (another photo angle of Mike Waltz checking Signal under the table)

Waltz, who was White House national security adviser at the time the photos were taken, seemed to think it was a good idea to use Signal in a room full of reporters.

Trump announced Thursday that Waltz will be leaving his post as national security adviser. Instead, he’s being nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Maybe he’ll find a privacy screen by the time he starts his new job.

Trump’s Corruption Hits Next Level With Shady $2 Billion Crypto Deal

An investment firm backed by a foreign government just made a massive deal using the Trump family’s crypto firm. The conflicts of interest here are unprecedented.

Donald Trump stares blankly ahead while sitting in the Oval Office
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Trump family’s cryptocurrency business just got a $2 billion investment from a firm backed by the United Arab Emirates government. The deal is rife with conflicts of interest.

Zach Witkoff—son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and founder of the Trump family’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial—announced the deal at a conference in Dubai on Thursday. He was accompanied by Eric Trump, who runs his family’s business.

The Emirati firm, MGX, will be using World Liberty Financial’s so-called stablecoin, USD1, to make a deal with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.

“We thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us,” Witkoff said. “It’s only the beginning.”

This is a massive donation from a foreign government to the Trump family that will ultimately go toward a crypto exchange that has been monitored by the U.S. government for two years for money laundering. Binance’s billionaire founder, Changpeng Zhao, has not so coincidentally been pushing for a Trump pardon after he pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering laws.

With this deal, the Trump family will be enriched beyond most people’s comprehension, and they have the UAE government to thank for it. One can predict that Trump is likely to treat the country very favorably from here on out, again demonstrating that his power does have a price.

Trump changed his tune on cryptocurrency and used it to raise millions of dollars for his last campaign. His firm has been incredibly lucrative since, and as Witkoff said, it’s only the beginning. This current venture is an instance of Trump further thumbing his nose at our flimsy conflict of interest laws and selling his influence to the highest bidder.

Mike Waltz Fails Up Into New Job After Signal Group Chat Disaster

The man behind that disastrous war plans group chat is still sticking around. He just has a different job.

Mike Waltz looks down at his phone.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Looks like Mike Waltz will land on his feet after being pushed out as national security adviser.

President Trump announced on Truth Social Thursday afternoon that he will be appointing Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as national security adviser in the interim in addition to his other posts of acting administrator of USAID and acting archivist of the United States.

Truth Social screenshot Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter! May 01, 2025, 2:16 PM

The move comes after Trump’s first choice for the ambassadorship, Representative Elise Stefanik, withdrew her name from consideration after the Republican majority in the House of Representatives became too thin. Waltz’s departure from his national security adviser post along with his deputy, Alex Wong, was announced earlier on Thursday following several scandals in the past few months.

Most notably, in March, Waltz accidentally invited Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private Signal chat where Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth discussed attack plans against Houthi targets in Yemen. Later, Waltz was found to have left his Venmo account public, exposing associates including government officials and lobbyists. He was also exposed for having much of his personal data, including account passwords, cell phone numbers, and email addresses, listed online.

Along with Hegseth, Waltz used Signal frequently for work purposes, reportedly being part of at least 20 group chats to discuss issues in Ukraine, China, Gaza, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Privately, Trump was reportedly furious with Waltz’s missteps, but evidently not enough to push him out of the administration entirely.

Waltz’s new job seems to indicate that there are limits to accountability in the Trump administration. While he lost one job, he arguably got one that comes with less scrutiny. While the Signalgate scandal continues, for now it appears that the only consequences for the White House will be some chairs being shuffled.

This story has been updated.

Checking in on what other Republicans are up to