Trump admin shuts down CDC training that purportedly flouted executive order on critical race theory!
by Same Dorman, FoxNews, 9/15/20
President Trump's administration canceled another critical race theory training that was set to occur through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite the president's recent executive order banning those types of events, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said Tuesday.
OMB Director Russ Vought announced the decision just a day after Discovery Institute researcher Chris Rufo reported on the training, underscoring the administration's recent responsiveness to news on this issue.
"Glad to report, per @POTUS’s directive, this training is being cancelled immediately," Vought tweeted, alongside Rufo's post about the issue. Rufo's revelations appeared to prompt Trump's executive order earlier this month.
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Rufo noted on Monday that the CDC was hosting a training focused on "systems of structured inequality," blaming systemic racism for deaths from COVID-19 and at the hands of police. It admonishes the "myth of meritocracy" and "myth of american exceptionalism," among other objectives that Rufo said represented "textbook critical race theory."
It's unclear why the CDC proceeded with the training, which appeared to take place on Thursday. Rufo responded to Vought's announcement by demanding accountability and threatening to release names of those involved if the CDC didn't take action on its own.
The Health and Human Services Department, which houses the CDC, did not immediately provide comment to Fox News. A senior administration official told Fox News that all agencies are supposed to adhere to the president’s order, and that the president's team is attempting to stop trainings that are continuing despite the cease and desist order.
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In Vought's initial letter on the issue, he denounced the trainings as un-American. "According to press reports, in some cases these training have further claimed that there is racism embedded in the belief that America is the land of opportunity or the belief that the most qualified person should receive a job," he said.
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"These types of 'trainings' not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for which our nation has stood since its inception, but they also engender division and resentment within the federal workforce," he said.
Vought also directed agencies to identify ways to sever government contracts that supported those trainings.
Last week, Rufo flagged a training through an Education Department contractor, which purportedly pushed for radical changes to education and doing “away with prison,” among other things. One document stated that “schools are built to manage racism” and that “we all” seem to abide by a racial contract that says it’s ok for white people to kill [B]lacks with immunity.”
The Education Department told Fox News last week that it was investigating the issue but hasn’t provided an update since that notice. Press Secretary Angela Morabito said: “We are actively looking into this and will take all appropriate actions to protect taxpayers from funding anti-American activity.”
Vought's announcement came just a day before the Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield is scheduled to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Health and Human Services. The office of Chairman Roy Blunt, R-Mo., did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. The hearing, intended to address the coronavirus response, could serve as an opportunity for senators to probe the agency on its apparent defiance of Trump's executive order.
In August, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter to the Department of Energy demanding that it provide an explanation for a similar training hosted for executives at Sandia National Laboratories. Hawley announced at the end of last month that Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette initiated a department-wide investigation of the issue. A statement from the Department of Energy indicated that these trainings might take place without senior leadership's knowledge. "The Department of Energy (DOE) leadership did not have knowledge of or authorize the use of taxpayer dollars for the reported social workshops at the Sandia National Laboratories, or elsewhere," a department statement read.
