LOS ANGELES, California — Ambassador Ric Grenell told federal, state, and local leaders that he would not tolerate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) criteria slowing down the process of cleaning up and rebuilding after L.A. fires.
“That bullshit can’t happen,” Grenell said, saying that he had heard that subcontractors for debris removal were being delayed because they were trying to find “the right mix” in terms of DEI requirements, slowing down the process.
“If we hear about specific instances, we’re going to highlight them,” he warned. “That bullshit can’t happen, okay? We want people who can get here and remove things. I don’t care about the color of their skin, I don’t care if they’re in a wheelchair. We want people to be able to do the job and get it done, and not hold up because we have some quota system.”
He said those who were insisting on such criteria should just “get out of the way” of rebuilding the area.
Grenell toured the devastation in the Pacific Palisades together with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin (in his first week on the job); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Major General Jason Kelly, Federal Emergency Management Agency regional administrator Bob Fenton, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, and others.
Gernell, representing the White House on the ground in California, brought presidential leadership and focus, urging federal, state, and local government agencies to work together — and work faster — to address residents’ concerns.
Zeldin fielded questions about the EPA’s role in the cleanup effort, which is to remove hazardous materials from burn sites. Under Zeldin’s leadership, the EPA has shortened its timeline for cleanup from 90 days to 30 days in L.A. He said that the agency is working “’round the clock” on the so-called “Phase 1” removals of hazardous materials, so that the so-called “Phase 2” removals of debris, carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers and by private contractors, can begin.
General Kelly told Breitbart News that although the initial assumption of the Army Corps of Engineers was that it would take 18 months for all the debris to be removed — from nearly 7,000 destroyed structures across 24,000 acres — he now believed that he could do it faster. “I’m going to tell you right now: I plan to beat a year.”
He said that the sense of urgency applied not just to the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, but also to Altadena and Pasadena as well. The latter communities were hit hard by the Eaton Fire, which burned at the same time as the Palisades Fire.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
