Harmeet Dhillon quits as head of US Justice Department's civil rights division after midterm defeat

Politics in Washington has been stirred by the results of the US midterm elections. The administration of President Donald Trump has suffered its first major setback, with Harmeet Dhillon, the Indian-origin lawyer who headed the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, abruptly resigning from her post.

Dhillon is the first senior official to leave the administration after the losses suffered by Trump's party in the election. Her sudden exit has set off sharp discussion in the Justice Department and in political circles.

Dhillon has long been regarded as a highly trusted and close associate of Trump. She was chief legal adviser in his election campaign. She was then given charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the administration, as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

In a tenure of about a year and a half, Dhillon completely changed the way the division worked. Earlier, the division largely focused on enforcing laws on voting rights, police reform and discrimination on grounds of race. Dhillon worked in line with Trump's conservative agenda and strongly opposed DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies. She also took an aggressive stand on safety in women's and girls' sports and against "woke" thinking.

After news of the resignation emerged, US Attorney General Todd Blanche praised her work in a post on the social media platform X. Blanche wrote, "Harmeet Dhillon led the Civil Rights Division with great strength and unwavering integrity. She made a major contribution to establishing the rule of law without discrimination."

Dhillon also posted on X herself. She said that serving America as Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for Civil Rights was the greatest honour of her life. She claimed that during her tenure she had worked to end unlawful policies driven by left-wing thinking. Expressing gratitude for the opportunity President Trump gave her, she said she was looking forward to new possibilities ahead.

Her tenure was marked by considerable controversy. Resentment spread quickly among long-serving staff in her division. Because of changes in her working style and policies, more than 75 per cent of the division's experienced staff either quit or were removed. Dhillon filled the vacancies with lawyers of right-wing leanings, but these new recruits lacked experience.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution gives citizens the right to bear arms. Supporting this agenda, Dhillon had set up a separate section, in effect an independent unit, within the Justice Department to protect this right. This drew considerable controversy in the US.

Before the election, Dhillon had launched an aggressive legal campaign in several states to remove "non-American" citizens from voter lists. However, courts in various parts of the US dismissed these cases. Judges had remarked that it would harm the rights of legitimate voters and misuse their privacy. Her legal stand on antisemitism at universities and discrimination against white students also failed to win major success in court.

In the weeks before her resignation, turmoil within the Justice Department had begun to leave Dhillon isolated. She had been gradually removed from several cases linked to Trump's allegations of election rigging by the Democratic Party. In cases in which Trump took a personal interest, her role had been reduced to almost nothing. Finally, after the crushing midterm defeat, she decided it was best to step down. After her departure, it is being speculated that a few more major resignations could follow in the Trump administration in the coming days.