CBC joins opposition to Trump’s civil rights nominee

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Wednesday joined the growing number of voices calling for President Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division to be rejected by the Senate.

The group sent a letter to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urging the top two senators on the Judiciary Committee to reject Eric Dreiband’s nomination to the Justice Department, citing his “lack of experience” in dealing with civil rights laws. Trump nominated Dreiband to the post in July. 

“This nomination demonstrates the dismissive approach to civil rights issues that has been a hallmark of this administration,” the CBC wrote in the letter. “We have several well-founded concerns with Mr. Dreiband’s nomination, as he has demonstrated a deeply concerning pattern of fighting against civil rights.”

The group continued, attacking Dreiband’s opposition to congressional efforts to strengthen employee discrimination laws and civil rights.

“At best, he has no experience in the Division’s core issue areas, such as voting rights and hate crimes,” the CBC wrote. “At worst, he has devoted the vast majority of his career to defending corporations accused of employment discrimination.”

“Mr. Dreiband’s appointment follows President Trump’s agenda of tapping the fox to guard the henhouse,” the group added.

The @OfficialCBC strongly opposes the confirmation of Eric Dreiband to lead the @CivilRights Division: https://t.co/uxF7Swke1n #DropDreiband pic.twitter.com/TB2ECezXYA

— Civil Rights (@civilrightsorg) September 6, 2017

{mosads}The letter from the CBC comes just a day after leading LGBT civil rights groups sent a similar letter urging Dreiband’s withdrawal from consideration to lead the DOJ’s civil rights team.

It cited concerns with various clients Dreiband represented in his work, including a case where Dreiband represented Abercrombie & Fitch in front of the Supreme Court when it was sued for not hiring a Muslim woman because she wore a hijab.

“The message being sent, first by the 2018 budget proposal and now by the nomination of Mr. Dreiband, could not be more clear: under President Trump and Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions, the Civil Rights Division will no longer be in the business of defending civil rights,” wrote more than 40 leading LGBT groups on Tuesday.

“Mr. Dreiband, with his track record of impeding and resisting civil rights, is simply not the right man for the job.”

The White House has defended Dreiband by saying nominees are selected based “on the merits of their character and not on the clients they once represented as counsel.”

Dreiband has represented various corporations such as Bloomberg, CVS Pharmacy and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. He also served in George W. Bush’s administration as general counsel for the Equal Opportunity Commission.

During his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Dreiband issued a strong statement against neo-Nazis and other hate groups.

“The bigotry and ideology of neo-Nazism, Nazism, white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan are a disgrace to this country and should be eradicated from the United States,” Dreiband said during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.