DOJ hires ex-Jim Jordan staffer as civil rights chief after Harmeet Dhillon departure

President Donald Trump tapped Craig Trainor, a former aide to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on an acting basis after Harmeet Dhillon resigned last week.The appointment fills one of several vacancies at the DOJ since Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections. Trainor takes over a division that Dhillon redirected toward obtaining state voter rolls and challenging diversity policies, priorities that will now fall to him. Recommended Stories I am pleased to announce that President Trump has appointed Craig Trainor as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. Since October 2025, Craig has served as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, where he oversaw…— Attorney General Todd Blanche (@AGToddBlanche) November 11, 2026 “I am pleased to announce that President Trump has appointed Craig Trainor as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division,” Attorney General Todd Blanche posted to X Tuesday evening.Trainor has overseen federal fair housing enforcement at the Department of Housing and Urban Development since October 2025. He previously served as acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department and spent more than a decade practicing criminal defense and civil rights law in New York City. He also worked for the America First Policy Institute.Blanche noted that “Craig was also the principal architect of HUD’s civil rights enforcement policies, which cut the Biden-era fair housing case backlog in half.”As then-senior special counsel to Jordan, Trainor scrutinized the Biden administration’s DOJ and served as lead counsel on a House Judiciary inquiry into allegations of censorship and antisemitic harassment on college campuses. House Republicans elected Jordan as minority leader for the next Congress on Tuesday, voting 106-73 to pick him over Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).Brian Nieves, a former chief of staff to Blanche, praised the pick in a statement to X.“I had the chance to work with and get to know Craig on the House Judiciary Committee and know firsthand how talented and dedicated he is,” Nieves wrote. “He’ll do a fantastic job in this role. Congrats, brother!”Under Dhillon, a Trump ally confirmed in April 2025, hundreds of attorneys left and the division dropped investigations into alleged constitutional violations by police departments, a Democratic priority. Trainor also inherits lawsuits accusing UCLA and Harvard University of tolerating campus antisemitism.DOJ SEES EXODUS OF STAFF AFTER MIDTERM LOSSESBlanche has interviews scheduled this week for at least two other recently vacated posts, according to sources familiar with the plans.National Security Division chief John Eisenberg and South Florida U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones resigned Friday. Civil Division chief Brett Shumate resigned Monday, and Blanche counselor Henry Whitaker disclosed plans to leave in a court filing. T. Elliot Gaiser left the Office of Legal Counsel after previous plans for a Northern District of Texas judgeship and is still awaiting potential confirmation in the Senate.