Harmeet Dhillon has resigned as head of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, becoming the first senior department official to leave the Trump administration since Democrats’ sweeping victories in the midterm elections.
Ms Dhillon, a conservative lawyer and longtime ally of Donald Trump, said she had decided to step down weeks before polling day but delayed the announcement at the request of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
“I wasn’t asked to resign,” Ms Dhillon said. “I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms.”
She formally submitted her resignation on Thursday, saying she had achieved what she set out to do in Washington and wanted to return to private practice in California.
“My decision, my choice,” she said. “It’s time.”
Harmeet Dhillon’s Justice Department overhaul
Ms Dhillon spent around 19 months leading the Civil Rights Division after being nominated by Mr Trump in December 2024, confirmed by the Senate in April 2025 and sworn in days later.
During her tenure, the division shifted its focus towards issues including diversity and inclusion policies, race-conscious admissions, religious discrimination, transgender participation in women’s sport, gun rights and election integrity.
She also oversaw investigations into universities accused of discriminating against white applicants or failing to address antisemitism on campus, while the department abandoned several police reform investigations and settlements begun under the previous administration.
The department’s efforts to obtain detailed voter records from states also faced repeated court challenges. Ms Dhillon’s division separately deployed election monitors across all 50 states during the midterms, in what was described as the first nationwide operation of its kind.
Her approach prompted fierce criticism from former Justice Department lawyers and civil-rights groups, who accused her of abandoning the division’s traditional enforcement mission. More than 300 attorneys reportedly left during the Trump administration’s second term, while Ms Dhillon said she had recruited more than 130 lawyers to rebuild its ranks.
Attorney General Todd Blanche praised Ms Dhillon’s record in a message posted on X, saying she had “defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favour”.
“The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavours,” he added.
Before joining the Justice Department, Ms Dhillon founded the Dhillon Law Group, which has offices in several US states, and the Center for American Liberty. She said she moved to Washington after the deaths of her husband and father to serve her country, but now intends to return to the private sector.
