Politics

Harmeet Dhillon resigns as DOJ civil rights chief after midterm losses

White House asked her to hold the announcement until after election day, Rubio exit report denied as Hegseth vows no retreat

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The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon has resigned days after Trump-allied Republicans saw sweeping losses in midterm elections, with Democrats prepared to investigate administration figures (Getty) The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon has resigned days after Trump-allied Republicans saw sweeping losses in midterm elections, with Democrats prepared to investigate administration figures (Getty) Getty
Dhillon, among a fleet of Trump-allied lawyers who supported his legal battle to throw out 2020 election results, helped launch the DOJ’s failed crusade to obtain voter data in the months before miterms (Getty) Dhillon, among a fleet of Trump-allied lawyers who supported his legal battle to throw out 2020 election results, helped launch the DOJ’s failed crusade to obtain voter data in the months before miterms (Getty) Getty
Sergio Gor and President Donald Trump Sergio Gor and President Donald Trump zerohedge.com
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed 'not to back down' in pushing out President Donald Trump’s agenda (Getty Images) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed 'not to back down' in pushing out President Donald Trump’s agenda (Getty Images) Getty Images

Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, resigned on Thursday, the first senior administration official to leave since Republicans' midterm losses this week. Her mind was made up weeks ago: "I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms," she told Fox News, referring to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

An attorney who backed Trump's effort to reverse the 2020 result and joined his "election integrity" team in 2024, Dhillon spent her eighteen months steering the division toward what she called woke ideology — transgender athletes in women's sports, "anti-Christian bias," diversity programmes — while dropping lawsuits intended to protect voting rights. In the run-up to the midterms her office sued 30 states and Washington, DC to obtain their voter registration lists; federal judges tossed out 27 of the suits. According to the New York Times, the White House was nonetheless unhappy with her comments to 60 Minutes, which downplayed the idea of noncitizen voting — the same idea that had animated her division's court campaign — and Attorney General Todd Blanche's send-off thanked her for having "defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor."

Within hours the accounting widened. Bloomberg reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has discussed stepping down with White House officials, who urged him to stay; the State Department called the report "complete and total fake news based on the word of anonymous sources, befitting a tabloid." The Washington Sun reports that Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, has been discussed for several powerful positions, including secretary of state and White House chief of staff; Gor denies seeking another job and calls Rubio "irreplaceable." At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed from the building's steps that "just like the president, we don't back down," as incoming congressional Democrats prepare investigations of administration officials across the government.

Dhillon is returning to the California law firm she founded. The case for the man discussed as Rubio's successor, as one presidential adviser put it to the Washington Sun, comes down to three words: Trump "loves the guy."