Harmeet Dhillon Resigns as Civil Rights Division Leader

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, resigned recently, according to Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division with conviction the past 18 months,” Blanche wrote. “She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors.”

Dhillon’s resignation comes after the recent midterm elections, where Republicans faced defeats, and Democrats plan to investigate the Trump administration’s initial years. Over the past year, over 75% of staff exited from the Civil Rights Division under Dhillon’s leadership.

Since her appointment, the division’s focus shifted from traditional priorities of combating discrimination toward enhancing gun owners’ rights and limiting universities’ equity, diversity, and inclusion policies. She also took positions opposing protections for transgender individuals.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 29, 2026.

Dhillon closed various cases involving racial discrimination and terminated over 50 longstanding agreements with schools meant to shield Black students from discrimination. She also canceled consent decrees with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, which were significant due to historically investigated abuses.

This year, following the fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti during immigration protests, Dhillon’s division initially refrained from launching civil rights investigations. The decision faced criticism, prompting eventual involvement in the Pretti case, though no charges have been brought yet.

Stacey Young, ex-Civil Rights Division attorney and founder of Justice Connection, criticized Dhillon’s tenure, describing it as “destructive” and “hateful.” Young stated, “For almost 70 years, the Civil Rights Division brought to fruition the civil rights laws that Americans demanded. Dhillon decimated it.”

An ally of President Trump, Dhillon ran a law firm in San Francisco and frequently contributed to conservative podcasts and social media. Diverging from her predecessors, she sometimes announced civil rights investigations online and shared updates regularly.

Dhillon, known for actively engaging on social media, even derived ideas for civil rights probes from online posts. She distributed challenge coins to DOJ attorneys embossed with “FAFO” (“f–k around and find out”).

Regarding voting rights, the division under Dhillon launched 31 lawsuits against predominantly Democratic states to access unredacted voter rolls. These efforts intended to ensure compliance with federal voting laws but often intended to aid Homeland Security in enforcement purposes. Most of these suits were unsuccessful.

During the recent midterm elections, the Civil Rights Division deployed over 1,000 monitors across polling sites nationwide, exceeding usual numbers and enlisting help from various DOJ units, including the Bureau of Prisons and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.