Harmeet Dhillon, head of DOJ civil rights division, steps down
The Trump ally is the first senior justice department official to leave after Democrats took control of Congress in the midterm elections.
At a glance
- Harmeet Dhillon resigned as head of the justice department's civil rights division after 18 months, attorney general Todd Blanche said.
- She is the first senior DOJ official to leave after midterms in which Democrats won control of Congress.
- Critics say she dropped minority discrimination cases and lost every voter roll lawsuit against more than two dozen states.
Harmeet Dhillon, a Donald Trump ally who led the US justice department's civil rights division, is leaving her post after 18 months, attorney general Todd Blanche said in a post on X. Blanche said he had accepted her resignation and praised her work defending civil liberties and enforcing the law.
She is the first senior justice department official to depart after the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of Congress. Democrats are expected to use that power to investigate executive agencies, including the justice department. Bloomberg Law first reported her departure.
A division reshaped
During her tenure, Dhillon redirected the division away from its traditional work protecting the civil rights of minorities. The department dropped numerous cases alleging discrimination against racial minorities in voting, housing, employment and education, and many career lawyers left, thinning the division's enforcement expertise.
She pursued discrimination claims at universities, including allegations that minorities were unfairly favoured in admissions and claims of antisemitism against Jewish students. A whistleblower said the school investigations were conducted with a predetermined outcome and that lawyers were told to find grounds for a lawsuit.
The division also oversaw investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal agents in Minnesota during an immigration enforcement surge. Neither resulted in criminal charges.
Criticism and court losses
Kristen Clarke, who led the division under Joe Biden and is now general counsel at the NAACP, said Dhillon "abdicated her responsibility to enforce our nation's federal civil rights laws and destroyed the crown jewel of the justice department". Clarke accused her of abandoning cases, purging the workforce and weaponising the division for partisan goals.
The division sued more than two dozen states for voter roll information and lost every case, with several rulings against it coming from judges appointed by Trump. Stacey Young, a former division lawyer who now leads Justice Connection, called Dhillon "the most destructive, lawless and hateful head of the civil rights division in DoJ history" and said more than three-quarters of its lawyers left.
Dhillon was a prolific poster on X and sometimes disclosed civil rights investigations there, unsettling longtime department lawyers accustomed to not discussing pending investigations publicly. She also publicly used a slur for people with disabilities and described conservative influencers as "hoes".
Born in India, Dhillon grew up in Smithfield, North Carolina, after living in the UK and New York. She told a Dartmouth alumni magazine that there were Klan signs on the highway where she grew up and that she was used to being an outsider. Before joining the government, she ran her own law firm, was vice-chair of the California GOP and worked on lawsuits contesting the 2020 election results.
Source: The Guardian.
Questions and answers
- Why did Harmeet Dhillon leave the justice department?
- Attorney General Todd Blanche said he accepted her resignation after she led the civil rights division for 18 months. She is the first senior justice department official to depart after the midterm elections.
- What changes did Harmeet Dhillon make to the civil rights division?
- She redirected the division away from protecting minority civil rights, dropped many discrimination cases, pursued university admissions and antisemitism claims, and saw scores of career lawyers leave.
- What did critics say about Harmeet Dhillon's tenure?
- Kristen Clarke said she destroyed the division's core work, while Stacey Young called her the most destructive head in its history and said more than three-quarters of its lawyers left.
