Biden will nominate Catherine Lhamon to lead Education Department's civil rights office
Source: NBC News
If confirmed, Lhamon will be in charge of issues including how schools address LGBTQ rights, sexual misconduct and racial harassment.
May 13, 2021, 9:00 AM EDT / Updated May 13, 2021, 9:51 AM EDT
By Tyler Kingkade
President Joe Biden plans to nominate Catherine Lhamon to lead the Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights. Lhamon held the same position in the Obama administration.
Biden announced Lhamons nomination as assistant secretary for civil rights on Thursday. If confirmed, Lhamon would have a highly visible role in determining how the federal government addresses LGBTQ rights, sexual misconduct and racial discrimination in the nations K-12 schools and colleges.
Lhamon, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, is currently a domestic policy adviser at the White House, focusing on racial justice issues, and was chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 2017 to 2021. She led the Education Departments Office of Civil Rights from 2013 to 2017, when the Obama administration emphasized tackling sexual assault on college campuses.
Lhamons nomination is the latest example of the White House steering civil rights policy back toward the Obama administrations approach and is likely to please advocacy groups for victims of sexual assault and civil rights organizations. But she could face opposition from Republican senators who have said that the Obama administrations Education Department overreached with its directives on Title IX, the gender equity law.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/biden-will-nominate-catherine-lhamon-lead-education-department-s-civil-n1267166