EPA's 'Top Environmental Justice Official' Quits Over Trump, Joins 'Hip Hop Caucus'

The leader of the Environmental Protection Agency's environmental justice program has resigned.

Mustafa Ali resigned Thursday, voicing concerns that President Donald Trump might deeply slash or eliminate funding for his office.

Reports have circulated that the EPA is going to face a hefty budget decrease. Some reports have suggested the environmental justice office, which addresses the impact of environmental issues on low-income and minority communities, could lose most or all of its funding.

"I never saw in the past a concerted effort to roll back the positive steps that many, many people have worked on though all the previous administrations. ... I can't be a part of anything that would hurt those [disadvantaged] communities. I just couldn't sign off on those types of things," said Ali, who has held his post since 1992.

"I hadn't seen any positive movement in relationship to vulnerable communities ... I hadn't seen yet any engagement with communities with environmental justice concerns," he added.

Ali has already moved on and is now working as a senior vice president at the Hip Hop Caucus, a civil and human rights group using hip-hop music to create political engagement.