The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) vigorously denounces the Senate’s confirmation of Craig Trainor to serve as the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws, including laws that prohibit housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), familial status, and disability, and establishing policies to provide equal access to housing.
In response to the confirmation, LDF’s Director of Policy Demetria McCain issued the following statement:
“We are deeply disappointed in the confirmation of Craig Trainor. His appointment should create tremendous concern for all Americans given the destruction that has taken place at the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights under Trainor’s leadership. During his time there, Trainor advanced a radical and inaccurate view of civil rights law that was blocked by federal courts.
“Trainor assumes control at a time when public servants are facing unjust consequences for abiding by the law — like the HUD staff who were recently fired for filing a whistleblower complaint alleging the Department’s failure to enforce housing discrimination laws under this administration.
“The first order of business for Trainor must be setting the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity on track to fully enforce civil rights laws and manage the statutorily required programs that help millions access housing without discrimination.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
