Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon Resigns After Midterm Election Losses

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general who headed the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, submitted her resignation on Thursday. Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the departure on X, praising Dhillon for defending civil liberties and enforcing the law without bias. Dhillon described the role as the "honor of a lifetime" and noted the division's work on issues such as DEI policies and women's sports.

The resignation comes two days after Democrats secured majorities in both the House and Senate in the recent midterm elections. During her tenure, the division pursued several high-profile actions, including lawsuits alleging discrimination at elite universities, a request for voter-registration lists from 30 states and Washington, D.C., and a decision not to open a use-of-force investigation into an ICE officer shooting. Federal judges dismissed most of the voter-list cases.

Dhillon, a longtime GOP election lawyer, frequently appeared on conservative media outlets ahead of the elections. She is scheduled to speak at the Donald Trump Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago during a Conservative Political Action Committee event.

Critics of Dhillon's leadership included Stacey Young of Justice Connection, who called her tenure "destructive" and urged the incoming Senate to ensure a new appointee adheres to the division's civil-rights mandate. Kristen Clarke, the NAACP's general counsel and former head of the division under the previous administration, said Dhillon had abandoned enforcement of federal civil-rights laws and called for a replacement who would protect those rights.