Harmeet Dhillon Resigns DOJ Civil Rights Division

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 7, 2025. REUTERS

Harmeet Dhillon, a senior US Justice Department official who reshaped the agency’s Civil Rights Division to advance Trump administration priorities, has resigned. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her departure on Thursday.

Dhillon is among the first senior officials to leave the administration after Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats retook both chambers of Congress.

Dhillon, a close ally of President Donald Trump, oversaw a major overhaul of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which has traditionally enforced laws protecting voting rights and preventing racial discrimination.

Under her leadership, the division shifted its focus towards challenging diversity initiatives and investigating alleged antisemitism on college campuses. The investigations targeted several prestigious universities.

Accused attorneys in the division of refusing to implement US Prez’s agenda

The changes triggered a wave of departures among career staff. Dhillon had accused attorneys in the division of pursuing liberal priorities and refusing to implement Trump’s agenda.

In her resignation letter, Dhillon listed efforts to force US institutions to scale back diversity initiatives and legal challenges against school districts over transgender policies among her achievements. She said she had informed the White House in October about her plans to resign.

“We ushered in the downfall of illegal DEI, we fought to protect women and girls’ sports, and so much more,” Dhillon wrote on social media, thanking Trump for appointing her.

Her spokesperson said Dhillon would return to her law firm, The Dhillon Law Group. The firm had recently shrunk after several attorneys left for other practices.

Two people familiar with the matter said Dhillon was frustrated at being overlooked for promotions within the department. She also wanted to return to her firm and revive its operations.

Civil Rights Division shifted focus under Dhillon

The Civil Rights Division has historically investigated police departments accused of systematic civil rights violations, including cases following the high-profile killings of Black people by local police.

Stacey Young, head of advocacy group Justice Connection, said the division had spent nearly 70 years enforcing civil rights laws demanded by Americans. “Dhillon decimated it,” she said.

Dhillon withdrew earlier findings from some police investigations and launched probes into whether Democratic-led cities had violated people’s gun rights under the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

Targeted dozens of universities

Dhillon led investigations into dozens of universities she considered too liberal. The probes focused on alleged antisemitism, diversity initiatives and the treatment of transgender people.

The investigations helped the Justice Department secure settlement agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the country’s leading universities. They also contributed to the resignation of the University of Virginia’s president.

Harvard University, one of the administration’s most prominent targets, refused to pay a large settlement and instead repeatedly challenged the Trump administration in court.

DOJ pursued voter data ahead of midterms

Ahead of the midterm elections, the Civil Rights Division played a major role in the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting. Independent reviews have found that such voting is exceedingly rare.

The Justice Department lost several court cases seeking access to private voter data from states. It also deployed around 1,000 staff members to monitor polling sites during Tuesday’s elections.

Division pursued cases against Trump’s perceived opponents

Dhillon was also involved in legal cases against people viewed as opponents of Trump.

The Civil Rights Division brought a high-profile criminal case against former CNN anchor Don Lemon and others accused of disrupting a church service in January. The protest was against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

The division also unsuccessfully sought criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who gave detailed testimony to Congress about Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the US Capitol.