Hud Official Tapped To Replace Harmeet Dhillon In Doj Civil Rights Division

The Trump administration has tapped Craig Trainor to be the new acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division to replace Harmeet Dhillon, who left last week during a series of Department of Justice shakeups after the midterm elections, according to an administration official familiar with the matter.

Since last October, Trainor has served as assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he oversaw enforcement of civil rights statutes that HUD oversees nationwide.

It’s unclear if he will be nominated to the position permanently. Prior to his time at HUD, he was acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. Before joining the Trump administration, he worked for the House Judiciary Committee and for the America First Policy Institute and spent over a decade as a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer in New York City.

Dhillon, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was confirmed to the position in April 2025. Under Dhillon, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division underwent a transformation, both critics and allies say. The department has pushed out hundreds of longtime attorneys; ended investigations into police departments over alleged constitutional violations; and sued UCLA and Harvard University for allegedly allowing an antisemitic environment to prevail on their campuses.

Dhillon was the first of numerous top Justice Department officials to resign in the last week, including assistant attorney general for national security John Eisenberg, head of its civil division Brett Shumate and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones.

DOJ’s press office and Trainor didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.