Harmeet Dhillon Resigns as Head of DOJ Civil Rights Division

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, resigned on Thursday, according to Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche acknowledged her resignation in a post on X, noting her dedication to civil liberties and law enforcement.

During her tenure, the Civil Rights Division experienced a mass exodus of more than 75% of its staff. Dhillon reoriented the division's focus away from traditional priorities, such as combating discrimination against marginalized groups, toward other issues including gun rights, university equity policies, and opposition to transgender civil rights protections.

The division closed many discrimination cases against Black Americans and dismissed over 50 decades-old consent decrees with public schools, many in the Deep South, under Dhillon's leadership. She also nixed two pending consent decrees with the Minneapolis and Louisville Police Departments over systemic abuses linked to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

In the Pretti case, where immigration agents shot and killed protesters in Minneapolis, the Civil Rights Division did not initially open a criminal civil rights investigation, a departure from longstanding practice. The division became involved only after public criticism and pressure from within the Justice Department.

Dhillon often posted about her division's work on social media and announced investigations online. Under her leadership, the division filed 31 lawsuits against blue states and the District of Columbia to gain access to unredacted voter rolls.

The Justice Department has lost 27 of those cases. During the midterm elections, the division deployed over 1,000 monitors to polling sites, a record number requiring support from other DOJ offices. However, Dhillon has been less involved in recent weeks, with the Office of Deputy Attorney General taking over some responsibilities.