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‘Civil Rights Canon in American Law’: Trump Rescinds Historic LBJ Nondiscrimination Order

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With a stroke of a pen, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Tuesday that overturned government policies going back six decades that banned discrimination and required affirmative action by federal contractors. This order canceled directives established by previous orders, including those issued by Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Barack Obama. The move, executed late Tuesday, came just a day after President Trump rescinded executive orders requiring diversity and affirmative action in the federal workplace.

In 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Executive Order 11246, banning federal contractors “from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which was charged with ensuring its compliance. Until President Trump rescinded it on Tuesday, EO11246 also required “contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that equal opportunity is provided in all aspects of their employment.”

President Barack Obama in 2014 amended that order via Executive Order 13672, which added “sexual orientation or gender identity” to the list of protected classes.

In his Tuesday executive order, “Trump said the OFCCP [Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs] must immediately stop promoting diversity and affirmative action, and cease ‘allowing or encouraging’ contractors and subcontractors to engage in ‘workforce balancing’ based on race, sex, color, religion, national origin, and ‘sexual preference,'” according to Bloomberg Law.

READ MORE: ‘Hunting Grounds’: Trump Cancels Biden Ban on ICE Arrests at Schools, Churches, Hospitals

“Trump has jumped into action in weakening diversity, equity, and inclusion policies since his inauguration. He already signed a pair of executive orders on Jan. 20 that eliminated DEI programs within the federal government and restricted the definition of ‘gender’ to male and female,” Bloomberg reported. “Trump’s sweeping new order Tuesday also aimed to ‘encourage’ private-sector companies to end ‘illegal’ DEI programs by redefining them as a form of discrimination.”

Axios reported, “This takes the current pushback on diversity, equity and inclusion into the next stratosphere — abolishing decades of government standards on diversity and equal opportunity, and seeking to crackdown on the same in the private sector.”

Trump on Tuesday also effectively furloughed all employees throughout the federal government, placing them on leave with pay. It is expected that he will terminate their employment.

“The memo, issued Tuesday to heads of departments and agencies, sets a deadline of no later than 5 p.m. ET Wednesday to inform the employees that they will be put on paid administrative leave as the agencies prepare to close all DEI-related offices and programs and to remove all websites and social media accounts for such offices,” NBC News reported. “It also asks federal agencies to submit a written plan by Jan. 31 for dismissing the employees.”

“Trump signed an executive order Monday ending ‘radical and wasteful’ diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal agencies, with DEI offices and programs being ordered to shut down.”

Trump has a history of battling government anti-discrimination regulations. His real estate business was sued in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Justice in a racial discrimination case.

“Trump and his father fiercely fought a 1973 discrimination lawsuit brought by the Justice Department for their alleged refusal to rent apartments in predominantly white buildings to black tenants,” the Associated Press reported in a 2016 fact check. “Testimony showed that the applications filed by black apartment seekers were marked with a ‘C’ for ‘colored.’ A settlement that ended the lawsuit did not require the Trumps to explicitly acknowledge that discrimination had occurred — but the government’s description of the settlement said Trump and his father had ‘failed and neglected’ to comply with the Fair Housing Act.”

READ MORE: Rubio Sidesteps J6 Pardons by Declaring ‘I Work for Donald J. Trump’

Constitutional law professor and political scientist Anthony Michael Kreis on Wednesday called LBJ’s EO11246 “a fundamental piece of the civil rights canon in American law.”

“The symbolism” in Trump revoking the order, “is huge,” he added.

“The phrase ‘affirmative action’ was used by JFK in a 1961 order on equal employment. Johnson followed it with this order, which survived six Republican presidents — including Trump’s first term,” noted ABC News Radio’s Steven Portnoy. “He revoked it last night.”

“The rollback of civil rights intensifies. For almost six decades, Executive Order 11246 (signed by LBJ in 1965) forbade federal contractors and vendors to discriminate by race, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc. This morning, the president revoked it,” commented Tom Sugrue, a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History.

Laurence Tribe, the noted constitutional law scholar and retired Harvard Law professor, observed: “There goes six decades of progress toward justice begun by LBJ.”

Nicholas Sarwark, former Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, noted: “One of the goals of MAGA is to repeal the civil rights era, making segregation, discrimination, and voter suppression legal and deny people their rights under the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Will that make life better for you, your family, or your neighbors?”

At The New Republic, Malcolm Ferguson wrote: “This is a massive, regressive attack on basic policy that helps protect people from real discrimination. And it won’t lower the price of eggs.”

READ MORE: Trump Defends His TikTok Flip Flop: America Has ‘Bigger Problems’ Than Young Kids’ Privacy

 

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‘Parade of Incompetence’: Trump Security Adviser Set Up Numerous Signal Chats on Key Crises

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Less than two weeks ago there was SignalGate, the Trump administration’s national security scandal that potentially endangered the lives of U.S. service members, and risked exposing military plans, by using an insecure channel to discuss, map out, and announce progress of an attack in Yemen. Then there was the Trump administration’s passwords scandal, where passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers of top Trump national security officials were easily found online. And just yesterday, GmailGate, the Trump administration’s use of the even less-secure commercial email app, to conduct government business.

All three crises involved President Donald Trump’s national security team, including White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, who admitted to setting up the insecure Signal chat.

On Wednesday afternoon, Politico reported that Waltz’s team actually had set up 20 or more different Signal group chats, for national security crises.

“National security adviser Mike Waltz’s team regularly set up chats on Signal to coordinate official work on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, according to four people who have been personally added to Signal chats,” according to Politico. “Two of the people said they were in or have direct knowledge of at least 20 such chats. All four said they saw instances of sensitive information being discussed.”

READ MORE: ‘Significant Political Rift’: Trump Faces Possible Defeat in First Tariff Test

“Waltz built the entire NSC communications process on Signal,” said one of the four sources.

Experts have warned that the use of Signal in certain circumstances may violate national security regulations, as well as federal law surrounding retention of government communications.

The use of Signal on personal cell phones is also problematic because those mobile devices can easily be compromised, experts say. CISA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has recommended the use of Signal instead of less secure platforms, but not for classified or sensitive communications.

“None of the four individuals said they were aware of whether any classified information was shared, but all said that posts in group chats did include sensitive details of national security work,” Politico noted.

Additionally, on Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported more concerning national security lapses.

“Two U.S. officials also said that Waltz has created and hosted multiple other sensitive national-security conversations on Signal with cabinet members, including separate threads on how to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine as well as military operations. They declined to address if any classified information was posted in those chats,” the Journal reported. It was not clear if these were among the 20 or more chats Politico reported on Wednesday.

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“In under 10 days, we’ve heard about journalists added to unclassified chats and sensitive data being shot around on personal emails,” lamented U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “And now we’re hearing there’s dozens more chats. It’s a never-ending parade of sloppy, reckless incompetence.”

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), also responding to the latest news from Politico, wrote: “President Trump must put our troops and national security first. Waltz must step down. If he won’t, President Trump should fire him.”

Democratic congressional candidate Cait Conley is a former National Security Council official who “spent nearly 20 years in the military, including a stint working on counterterrorism for the National Security Council under former President Biden,” The New York Times has reported. She also worked at CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“This is not an Administration that’s serious about protecting America. Every person on those (20!) group chats should have known better,” Conley observed.

“The national security advisor continues to put our country at risk by using chats to discuss sensitive issues, allowing our adversaries to potentially intercept these messages,” commented former Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary and former Special Assistant to the President Sabrina Singh. “This is not putting America First – it’s the opposite.”

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a former Air Force JAG officer, wrote: “National Security Adviser Waltz should resign for repeatedly playing fast and loose with OpSec. Signal should not be used to discuss sensitive information. The Pentagon warned against using Signal even for unclassified information.”

MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend snarked, “Amateur hour at the OK Corral and that’s even offensive to the amateurs.”

“This is Trump’s CLOWN CAR CABINET!,” charged CNN commentator Maria Cardona. “Incompetent, unqualified, unserious. AND these massive national security blunders, put US all is SERIOUS danger! They need to go!!”

READ MORE: ‘Paralyzed’: Johnson Mocked for Shutting House Down After ‘Brutal’ Defeat

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‘Significant Political Rift’: Trump Faces Possible Defeat in First Tariff Test

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President Donald Trump’s midnight rant attacking four top Republican Senators appeared to reveal the President’s first big tariff test—on “Liberation Day” Wednesday, the day he is unveiling what is expected to be a highly unpopular global tariffs package—is off course, and may ultimately fail.

Democrats have proposed legislation to block Trump’s tariffs on Canada, one of America’s largest and oldest trading and military partners, by declaring Trump’s stated “national emergency” to have ended.

It appears Trump may lose this battle, at least in the Senate.

In his overnight tirade, Trump attacked four GOP Senators by name: Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, who, reports suggest, will join with Democrats to support the legislation to block his Canadian tariffs.

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Last year, even before Trump won the election, McConnell was a staunch “no” on tariffs.

“I’m not a fan of tariffs. They raise prices for American consumers. I’m more of a free trade kind of Republican that remembers how many jobs were created by the exports that we engage in,” the then-Senate Minority Leader told reporters.

McConnell is again a staunch no on tariffs, at least for Canada.

“I’m with you,” McConnell reportedly told U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), who is sponsoring the legislation, CNN’s Haley Talbot reported.

“Kaine says rock solid GOP with him are Collins Murkowski Rand Paul and McConnell,” she added — the four Trump targeted.

It gets worse for Trump.

On Monday afternoon, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned that Trump’s tariffs could cause farmers in his state “irreparable” harm.

“Anyone who says there may be a little bit of pain before we get things right need[s] to talk to my farmers who are one crop away from bankruptcy,” Tillis told CNN’s Manu Raju, as HuffPost reported.

READ MORE: ‘Paralyzed’: Johnson Mocked for Shutting House Down After ‘Brutal’ Defeat

“They don’t have time. So we’ve got to be crisp on this implementation,” he added. “Otherwise, we could do damage that is irreparable to farmers.”

While Tillis has not yet indicated how he will vote, there may be other Republicans supporting the Democrats’ legislation.

“At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Kaine said other Republicans are also reaching out to him to get information on the resolution, indicating the number of GOP supporters may grow,” Politico reports. “Kaine also said Trump’s announcement about a new wave of tariffs, which is expected to take place prior to the Senate resolution vote, ‘could increase pressure for more [Republicans] to join.'”

Politico earlier on Wednesday reported that GOP Senators “Chuck Grassley — one of many farm-state Republicans concerned about the Canadian tariffs — and John Cornyn were noncommittal Tuesday about how they might vote.”

Should things go south for Trump, Vice President JD Vance will be on hand to cast a vote if the resolution is a tie.

Importantly, Politico observes, “the GOP dissent on the Hill represents a significant political rift in the party about the sweeping economic consequences of his sometimes-unpredictable trade policies.”

House Democrats are also launching a concurrent resolution to declare that the national emergency with Canada is over, Punchbowl News reports. That version is believed to face stiffer odds. Should both pass, Trump has said he will not sign them into law.

Some are also mocking Trump, after the White House moved the announcement event time of his global tariff package from 3 PM to 4 PM — just after the stock markets close.

See the social media post above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Understand’: Senator Who Backed RFK Jr. Now on Defense After Massive HHS Firing

 

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‘Humiliation’: Musk to Step Back From White House Role, Trump Reportedly Tells Aides

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Just months ago, a Trump White House advisor suggested that Elon Musk—a special government employee bound by law to step down after a limited tenure—was likely to overstay his term. Now, after a resounding defeat in Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race, where voters overwhelmingly chose a Democrat—despite Musk injecting millions of dollars, his outsized persona, and million-dollar checks to voters—it seems the Tesla billionaire may have overstayed his welcome.

“President Donald Trump has told his inner circle, including members of his Cabinet, that Elon Musk will be stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role as governing partner, ubiquitous cheerleader and Washington hatchet man,” Politico reports in an exclusive. “The president remains pleased with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative but both men have decided in recent days that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role, according to three Trump insiders who were granted anonymity to describe the evolving relationship.”

Politico also reports that “Musk’s looming retreat” comes as Trump’s allies — insiders and outsiders — increasingly are squawking at his “unpredictability, and increasingly view the billionaire as a political liability.”

READ MORE: ‘Just Plain Dumb’: Trump’s Smuggled Fentanyl Tariff Mocked

That “dynamic that was thrown into stark relief Tuesday when a conservative judge Musk vocally supported lost his bid for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 10 points.”

The Politico report comes on “Liberation Day,” as Trump is calling Wednesday — the day he will announce his highly-controversial and some say, harmful, global tariffs.

Last week, Trump had already begun setting the stage for a smooth and face-saving exit, and on Monday he told reporters that “at some point Elon’s going to want to go back to his company.” (See video below.)

But Musk is unlikely to vanish from the scene entirely, according to Politico.

“They’re feeling the pressure,” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) commented, in response to the Politico report. “Keep up the fight to Fire Elon Musk.”

Iconic tech and business journalist Kara Swisher remarked, “Trump does not like a loser. The cheesehead antic was repellent to voters, and now to Elon’s BFF.”

READ MORE: ‘Paralyzed’: Johnson Mocked for Shutting House Down After ‘Brutal’ Defeat

Eoin Higgins, author of the book, “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left,” noted that “the dismantling of the agencies is in motion and will continue, but this is still a humiliation—all that money and power only to find out that people just don’t like you and you’re so unpopular you’re dragging everyone else down with you.”

Attorney, academic, and author Alberto Alemanno writes that “Musk’s political adventure is over (for now). He’s become a political liability and we can now ALL stop amplifying his omniscient takes.”

Chris Griswold, policy director at the conservative think tank American Compass, snarked, “When they do Liberation Day, they really do Liberation Day.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Understand’: Senator Who Backed RFK Jr. Now on Defense After Massive HHS Firing

 

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