Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT—Ahead of hearing, Senator Warren presses fair housing nominee on enforcing the law, (Jun 12, 2025)
By George M. Gullo, J.D.
If confirmed, you will lead HUD’s fair housing programs and enforcement of the Fair Housing Act … amid President Trump’s efforts to decimate federal enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws,” Warren stated.
Nomination hearing. In advance of a June 12 nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Ranking Member Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Craig Trainor, President Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In her letter, Senator Warren stressed that HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is “responsible for the enforcement, administration, development, and public understanding of fair housing laws and policies.” She stressed that it “is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing, including against individuals seeking a mortgage or housing assistance, or in other housing-related activities, such as appraisals, marketing, tenant-screening, and evictions.”
“Disastrous record.” Senator Warren pointed out that Mr. Trainer, if confirmed, would inherit the “Trump Administration’s disastrous record on fair housing enforcement.” According to Senator Warren, “since taking office, President Trump has worked to systemically undermine HUD’s ability to do so.” She emphasized that “HUD has delayed or dropped at least 115 fair housing cases [and] HUD and DOGE efforts to cut the federal workforce have reduced FHEO [Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity] staff by roughly one third—drastically diminishing supervision and enforcement capacity.” In addition, HUD terminated its Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing rule, which implemented a Fair Housing Act provision requiring the federal government and recipients of federal housing funding to proactively take steps to undo segregated and unequal patterns of housing and community development.
“Harmful” results. The Trump administration’s actions, Senator Warren wrote, have produced “immediate and harmful” results. Consequently, defendants in fair housing organizations are “emboldened, allegedly ignoring correspondence from HUD investigators, looping DOGE employees into email traffic in the hopes that DOGE will intervene on their behalf, and walking away from settlements.” Senator Warren cited to one HUD official, who stated that for violators “to face a consequence, they will need to be brought through a litigation process, which requires expenditure of litigation from the department, and they know that we don’t have those resources anymore.”
Answers sought. To help her better assess Mr. Trainor’s fitness to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Senator Warren asked him to come to his nomination hearing prepared to answer the following questions:
Do you believe that all Americans deserve access to housing, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), familial status, and disability?
Will you commit to advocating for a fully staffed, fully functional Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD, even if doing so puts you at odds with other Administration officials?
Will you commit to reinstating and expanding communication lines between the public and HUD to make it easier, not harder, for potential victims of housing discrimination to file fair housing complaints with the Department?
Will you commit to reinstating Fair Housing Initiative Program grants to local fair housing organizations across the country?
Will you commit to enforcing the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act to the fullest extent of the law?
Will you commit to preserving strong disparate-impact enforcement, including to root out discriminatory effects in the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the housing market?
Prepare to explain. Senator Warren admonished Mr. Trainor that “[i]f confirmed, you will lead HUD’s fair housing programs and enforcement of the Fair Housing Act … amid President Trump’s efforts to decimate federal enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws.” Accordingly, she advised him to come to the hearing prepared to explain how he will “ensure that everyone has access to fair and affordable housing, despite the Trump Administration’s abject failure to protect Americans from housing discrimination.”
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