The new head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Harmeet K. Dhillon, is significantly transforming the office's direction to align with President Donald Trump’s social agenda. This shift has resulted in the resignation of approximately half of the division’s lawyers in recent weeks, as reported by sources familiar with the situation and confirmed by public statements from top officials.
Since her appointment earlier this month, Dhillon has reoriented the division's focus towards combating antisemitism, addressing the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports, and tackling what Trump and his allies label as anti-Christian bias and the Democrats’ “woke ideology.” In a notable shift, the division has altered its mission statements to prioritize fighting diversity initiatives over addressing racial discrimination.
In a sweeping change, more than a dozen career staffers have been reassigned, including section chiefs responsible for critical areas such as police brutality, disability rights, and voting rights. This restructuring comes at a time when the Justice Department has offered federal workers a chance to resign with pay through September, prompting a mass exodus among civil rights employees as the deadline approaches.
Dhillon revealed during a recent appearance on Glenn Beck's podcast that over 100 division attorneys plan to leave their positions due to disagreements with the new direction. The division originally comprised around 380 attorneys at the beginning of Trump's second term, but it now faces a dramatic reduction in personnel.
Dhillon expressed indifference towards the resignations, stating, “We don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police departments based on statistical evidence.” Her comments suggest a commitment to enforcing federal civil rights laws rather than adhering to what she terms “woke ideology.”
Established in 1957 as part of the Civil Rights Act, the civil rights division is charged with upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all individuals in the United States, particularly the most vulnerable populations. The office comprises 11 sections targeting discrimination in various areas, including education, housing, employment, and voting.
However, some civil rights advocates express concern that Dhillon’s changes could signify a departure from the division’s foundational mission. Stacey Young, a former civil rights attorney and founder of the advocacy organization Justice Connection, stated, “By effectively purging the vast majority of the division’s lawyers, DOJ is grinding this work to a near halt.”
While transitions between Republican and Democratic administrations typically bring changes to the civil rights division's priorities, many former officials describe the current shifts as unprecedented. Unlike the first Trump administration, where the division remained largely intact, the current restructuring has upended nearly every civil rights section.
For instance, the immigrant and employee rights section now emphasizes ensuring that foreign workers are not prioritized over U.S. citizens in job opportunities. Conversely, attorneys who previously focused on preventing discrimination against minority groups in education have shifted their resources to combat antisemitism.
One of Dhillon's initial actions was to revise the mission statements of many division offices to reflect Trump’s executive orders, including initiatives like “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” and “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” During her podcast appearance, Dhillon emphasized that these are the president's priorities, urging her staff to govern themselves accordingly.
Vanita Gupta, a former associate attorney general, criticized the changes, stating, “The mass exodus that this has triggered is unprecedented and also understandable.” The adjustments initiated by Dhillon and her team have raised alarms regarding the potential erosion of the Justice Department’s ability to enforce laws that protect Americans from discrimination.
Moreover, the Justice Department has already started to withdraw from Biden-era court cases involving discriminatory electoral practices and protections for transgender prison inmates, with Dhillon labeling such actions as “politically motivated and based on junk science.”
As the civil rights division adapts to these new priorities, Dhillon acknowledged a potential resource strain due to the recent departures, stating, “We’re going to run out of attorneys to work on these things at some point.” Nevertheless, she reassured that the division is seeking to hire new lawyers committed to enforcing civil rights in line with the president's objectives.
In conclusion, the recent transformations within the Justice Department’s civil rights division signal a profound shift in focus and priorities, raising critical questions about the future enforcement of civil rights protections in the United States.
