Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon resigned Thursday as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced, making her the first senior Justice Department official to leave after Democrats flipped Congress in the midterms.
In a post on X, Blanche said he accepted Dhillon’s resignation and praised her tenure. “She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor,” Blanche wrote. “The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors.”
Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division with conviction the past 18 months. She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for…
— Attorney General Todd Blanche (@AGToddBlanche) November 5, 2026
White House Asked Her to Wait
Dhillon told Fox News Digital she was not forced out and had decided weeks earlier to leave, but that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles asked her to stay through Election Day. “I wasn’t asked to resign,” Dhillon said. “I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms.”
Fox News reported that Dhillon formally submitted her resignation on Nov. 5. She said she believed she had “accomplished everything” she came to Washington to do and wanted to return to private practice after roughly two years in the administration following the deaths of her husband and father.
“My decision, my choice,” Dhillon told Fox News. “It’s time.”
Civil Rights Overhaul
Confirmed by the Senate in April 2025 after Trump nominated her in December 2024, Dhillon redirected the Civil Rights Division toward priorities including ending DEI and race-conscious policies, religious liberty, women’s sports, Second Amendment rights and election integrity, according to Fox News and CBS News.
CBS News reported that more than 75 percent of the division’s staff departed during her tenure as she reshaped its caseload away from many traditional enforcement priorities. Dhillon told Fox News she recruited more than 130 lawyers while roughly 300 attorneys left the division during Trump’s second term.
Asked whether she would testify if subpoenaed by the incoming Democratic Congress, Dhillon said she would seek legal advice and that executive privilege could limit what she could discuss. She also said she had not asked President Trump for a pardon and did not believe she needed one.
NPR noted Dhillon is the first high-ranking Justice Department official to depart since Democrats won the House and Senate. Daily Beltway will update this report if the White House or Justice Department name a successor.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-civil-rights-chief-harmeet-dhillon-resigns-says-white-house-asked-her-wait-until-after-midterms
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harmeet-dhillon-resigns-doj-civil-rights-division/
- https://www.npr.org/2026/11/05/g-s1-152080/head-of-justice-department-office-on-civil-rights-resigns
Sources
- Original post: Attorney General Todd Blanche (@AGToddBlanche) on X, Nov 5, 2026
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