Democrats have long sought Scott Lloyd's ouster over his efforts to block unaccompanied teens in federal custody from obtaining abortions. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images White House Trump's refugee director moved to new post

The Trump administration's controversial refugee office director is being reassigned inside the department, according to an internal HHS email obtained by POLITICO.

Scott Lloyd, who has come under fire for his oversight of migrant children in federal custody, is being moved to the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, where he'll be a senior adviser.


Democrats have long sought Lloyd's ouster over his efforts to block unaccompanied teens in federal custody from obtaining abortions. Lloyd, a longtime anti-abortion advocate, is writing a book about his views on abortion, POLITICO reported last week.

HHS has said that Lloyd’s personal beliefs have not influenced his leadership of its refugee office.

A spokesperson for HHS confirmed Lloyd's new role. The Daily Caller first reported the move this afternoon.

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Lloyd was effectively removed as refugee director this summer after his office struggled to care for and reunite thousands of migrant children who were separated from their families under the Trump administration's now-defunct "zero tolerance" border policy, three individuals told POLITICO last month.

A top HHS official has been reviewing the department's handling of the migrant crisis, and senior officials believe Lloyd mismanaged aspects of the response. For instance, Lloyd told staff to stop keeping a spreadsheet tracking separated families. At one point during the height of the crisis, HHS Secretary Alex Azar personally stepped in to review case files after he learned Lloyd's office had yet to review hundreds.

The ACLU, which is leading a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of blocking abortions for teens in federal custody, urged the next Congress to closely scrutinize the refugee office and Lloyd’s new position.

“The damage Scott Lloyd inflicted on the people he was charged to protect, and to the agency itself, will not be easily erased,” said Brigitte Amiri, deputy director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.

Prior to joinig the Trump administration, Lloyd had little experience in helping refugees. He was previously an attorney for the Knights of Columbus, where he wrote reports to the State Department and Congress about the plight of religious minorities in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Lloyd also served in the George W. Bush administration as an attorney at HHS and helped write conscience rules allowing medical providers to refuse contraceptives, abortions and other care on moral grounds.