I take Ed Whelan’s word for it that the White House’s reneging on the offer of head of the Civil Rights Division at Justice to a former MALDEF attorney had nothing to do with immigration (though the New York Times thinks that was the reason). But feathers were ruffled nonetheless, and perhaps as compensation, MALDEF’s president, John Trasvina, has been named Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I don’t know what the job entails, but I assume it involves making life miserable for landlords, and I’m sure he’s just the man for the job.