Burr Strongly Opposes Lhamon Nomination to Lead Ed Dept. Office for Civil Rights

Today, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement opposing the Senate’s motion to discharge from Committee the nomination of Catherine Lhamon to serve as Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education:

“Leading the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights should require a commitment to impartiality, fairness, and protecting the Constitutional right to due process. But Catherine Lhamon, the Biden Administration’s controversial nominee, promises just the opposite. 

“When Ms. Lhamon previously held this post under President Obama, she spent her time pushing a highly partisan, politicized agenda that unapologetically violated students’ civil rights and overstepped her legal authority. She oversaw policies that led to hundreds of violations of students’ due process rights, resulting in more than 300 legal challenges. Her radical views are at odds with federal court precedent and the opinion of leading legal experts, including the late Justice Ginsburg. And she has only become more vocal in her partisan attacks since then. When Secretary DeVos issued the Title IX rule on campus sexual assault, Ms. Lhamon responded with inflammatory, divisive rhetoric that in itself should be disqualifying.  

“Ms. Lhamon has also proven that, if confirmed, she will not appreciate or accept the limits of her authority. In her previous tenure, she made it clear she believed her guidance to schools was ‘binding’ and she worked to enforce it as though it were law. Unelected regulatory officials do not make the laws in this country; Congress does. The fact that Ms. Lhamon does not seem to understand the distinction in practice is inexcusable.

 “Ms. Lhamon’s disastrous track record, partisan agenda, and inflammatory rhetoric make her an unacceptable nominee to lead the Office for Civil Rights. I strongly oppose her confirmation, and would urge my Senate colleagues to do the same.”