Justice Department Civil Rights Chief Harmeet Dhillon Resigns

A departure from the Justice Department

November 5, 2026 · 4:29 p.m. Central / 5:29 p.m. Eastern

Harmeet Dhillon has resigned as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, ending a tenure in which she reshaped the unit’s priorities and drew both praise from the administration and criticism from former department lawyers.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that he accepted Dhillon’s resignation. In a post on X, he praised her work leading the division.

Dhillon told Fox News Digital that she decided to leave weeks before Tuesday’s midterm elections and that the White House asked her to remain until afterward, The Associated Press reported. She said she wanted to return to private practice and had not been asked to resign.

How the division changed

The division enforces federal civil rights laws. Under Dhillon, it investigated universities over matters including alleged antisemitism and diversity policies, sought state voter records, and moved away from police reform cases pursued under the previous administration, according to Reuters and AP.

Dhillon and the administration described the changes as enforcing the law and ending what they viewed as improper diversity policies. Former division lawyers said the shift abandoned important traditional civil rights work. Those assessments are disputed.

More than three-quarters of the division’s workforce from the start of President Donald Trump’s second term had departed, AP reported. Dhillon welcomed the departures of lawyers who she said did not share the administration’s priorities.

What comes next

Dhillon said her decision was her own. Reuters reported, citing her spokesperson, that she plans to return to the Dhillon Law Group.

The reports reviewed did not identify a confirmed permanent successor. The division’s future leadership and approach to its pending cases remained unclear at the reporting cutoff.

Where the division is based

The star marks the approximate central Washington, D.C. area for geographic context.

From confirmation to resignation

Dates are Eastern time.

1. April 2025 Dhillon took office as assistant attorney general after Senate confirmation, according to Reuters and contemporaneous reporting.
2. October 2026 Dhillon told the White House she planned to resign, Reuters reported, citing her letter.
3. November 3 U.S. midterm elections were held.
4. November 5 Blanche announced he had accepted Dhillon’s resignation.

The attorney general’s statement

Blanche announced his acceptance of Dhillon’s resignation on X and praised her leadership. His description is the department’s assessment.

Read the attorney general’s post on X

Open the original post if the embed does not load.

Sources and visual credits

Attorney General Todd Blanche · Associated Press · Reuters · Justice Department Civil Rights Division.

Hero and thumbnail: generated conceptual illustration, not a photograph of an actual building or document. Map: OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.