July 23, 2025

Ahead of Committee Vote, Warren Releases Troubling Responses from Trump Nominees for HUD, Treasury, EXIM, and Commerce

Trainor response (PDF) | DeMarzo response (PDF) | Jovanovic response (PDF) | Brooke response (PDF) | Peters response (PDF)

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, released responses from President Donald Trump’s nominees to the Questions for the Record she submitted ahead of their joint confirmation hearing on July 23, 2025. Many of the responses raised more questions than they answered. Today, the Committee will meet in executive session to vote on the nominations.

HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Nominee Craig Trainor

Ranking Member Warren’s questions to Craig Trainor, President Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD, covered the Trump Administration’s disastrous record on fair housing enforcement. In his responses, Mr. Trainor refused to acknowledge sexual orientation as a protected class under the Fair Housing Act, and did not provide any substantive answers to questions regarding staff cuts to the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and his own controversial writings.

See Trainor’s full response HERE.

HUD Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Nominee Ben DeMarzo

Ranking Member Warren’s questions to Ben DeMarzo, President Trump’s nominee for HUD Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, focused on HUD’s failure to provide meaningful responses to congressional inquiries regarding DOGE activities , efforts to reprivatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and cuts to the agency’s fair housing and civil rights enforcement. Mr. DeMarzo committed to providing responses to these and other congressional inquiries.

See DeMarzo’s full response HERE.

Export-Import Bank Chairman Nominee John Jovanovic

Ranking Member Warren’s questions to John Jovanovic, President Trump’s nominee for Export-Import Bank Chairman, covered plans to reform EXIM to better help American small businesses sell their products abroad, especially during President Trump’s foolish trade war. In his response, Mr. Jovanovic committed to provide transparency in the Bank’s management and committed to continuing analysis and monitoring of environmental and social impacts from projects financed by EXIM.

See Jovanovic’s full response HERE.

Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Development Nominee Francis Brooke

Ranking Member Warren’s questions to Francis Brooke, President Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Development at the Department of the Treasury, focused on the devastating impact of Trump’s tariffs on our economy and on American jobs, as well as the importance of engaging multilateral institutions to advance U.S. interests. In his response, Mr. Brooke refused to provide substantive answers to how the Administration will address the economic damage to American families and workers that the President’s reckless tariff agenda is creating.

See Brooke’s full response HERE.

Commerce Assistant Secretary for for Export Enforcement Nominee David Peters

Ranking Member Warren’s questions to David Peters, President Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce, focused on whether he would take action to prevent bad actors from diverting or providing unauthorized access to sensitive U.S. technology. In his response, Mr. Peters refused to provide a clear answer as to whether we need to impose robust safeguards to ensure that countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates do not simply take our advanced chips and provide them to China.

See Peters’ full response HERE.

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