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There's no director leading the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice, a position that "is supposed to be the administration’s leading voice on domestic and sexual violence, both nationally and internationally," WashPost reports.
Why it matters: Rob Porter is one of two administration members to resign in one week over allegations of domestic abuse and the White House has been criticized over how it handled this news. This DOJ position would have the power to enhance and support programs to help women who are victims of assault.
This looks especially bad considering my colleague Jonathan Swan's reporting last week: “Trump tells friends that he deplores the #MeToo movement and believes it unfairly exposes CEOs to lawsuits from their female employees. The fact that women frequently face sexual predation in the workplace doesn’t impact his view on this.”
- But there hasn’t been a Senate-confirmed director for this office since 2012.
- Cindy Dyer, who was the Violence Against Women director during George W. Bush's second term, told the Post that it would be "a powerful statement" for Trump to nominate someone right now: “It’s perfect timing, and it’s an opportunity to make a statement that violence affects us all and we’re not going to stand for it.”
A White House spokesperson told WashPost that the person considered for this position “is currently in the clearance process and will be announced when the process is completed.” Until then, Katie Sullivan, a former deputy district attorney in Colorado, will be the acting director.
Go deeper with the Washington Post's database of Trump's missing positions.