Harmeet Dhillon, now the deputy prosecutor general in charge of the civil rights division, is preparing for his confirmation hearing before the Senate judicial committee in February 2025.
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The Division of Civil Rights of the Ministry of Justice is upheaval in the midst of a massive exodus of lawyers while the Trump administration radically moves the division, stifling its traditional mission and replacing it by focusing on the application of the president’s decrees.
Some 250 lawyers – about 70% of the lawyers in the division – have left or left the department between the inauguration of President Trump and the end of May, according to current and former officials.
It marks a dramatic turn for the legendary division, which was created during the movement of civil rights and the push of ending racial segregation. For almost 70 years, he sought to combat discrimination and to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans in everything, from vote and housing to employment, education and police.
From now on, the administration redirects the division to enforce the decrees of President Trump, in particular the implementation of alleged radical indoctrination in schools, the defense of women against “the extremism of gender ideology”, and the fight against anti-Semitism and the alleged anti-Christian bias.
Five current or former officials of the department, most of whom have spoken under the guise of anonymity for fear of remuneration, affirm that the current effort is equivalent to the dismantling of the division and its traditional mission.
“The Civil Rights Division exists to enforce the laws on civil rights which protect all Americans,” said Stacey Young, former division of the division who left the department at the end of January. “It is not an arm of the White House. It does not exist to promulgate the president’s own program. It is a perversion of the separation of powers and the role of an independent ministry of justice.”
It is normal that the priorities of the division go from the administration to the administration, in particular from one party to another. But the changes in progress are far beyond normal recalibration, according to current and old employees and external observers.
The changes are implemented by the new chief of the division, Harmeet Dhillon, a conservative lawyer that Trump has appointed and the Senate confirmed in April.
Speaking during a recent event by the Federalist Society, Dhillon compared the work of the division under democratic administrations at a gear. She said republican administrations generally try to “slow down the train”.
“There was really not the emphasis on changing the train and driving it in the opposite direction. And this is my vision of the Civil Rights (division),” she said. “We are not only slowing down the awakening. We take the cause to achieve the objectives of the executive. This is an opportunity where we can make sure that the laws on civil rights of our country benefit all Americans, not just a few.”
180 degree turn
The administration has already started to execute this turn at 180 degrees. Under the new management, the ministry has abandoned surveys and withdrawn statements of interest or friendly memories in around thirty cases, according to the judicial archives. These include cases related to voting rights, alleged racial discrimination in hiring and civil actions against anti-abortion activists.
Dhillon has published new mission statements for the 11 sections of the division which push Trump’s priorities and redirect resources to enforce his decrees. These missions include “the protection of children against chemical and surgical mutilation”, “keep men outside female sports”, “eradicating anti-Christian biases” and “additional measures to combat anti-Semitism”.
Young said the changes equivalent to the destruction of the division and its traditional work.
“The division at the moment is decimated,” said Young, who now directs Justice Connection, an Almuni department group which provides support for MJ employees. “The head of the division and the Ministry of Justice have decided that the division would make laws respect only as to the favored communities of people.”
Craig Futterman, professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chicago, said that the changes in progress “make the division of civil rights on his head”. The Trump administration, he added, “uses a division that has history of protection of the most vulnerable among us to actually conduct a total assault against the civil rights of vulnerable people, including blacks, brown, women, lgbtqia folk.”
“I grew up following the civil rights movement where we celebrated all the heroes in progress and earnings, and knowing that there is still so much work to do in this country. And it is the most dramatic back tour I have lived in my life,” said Futterman.
Lawyers leave en masse
The modifications imposed by the Trump administration prompted the lawyers of the division to leave en masse. Some sections have been particularly affected by departures, including vote, education and special disputes.
Some of those who left resigned, while others followed the administration’s delayed resignation program or withdrew early.
The last series of mass departures has been held in recent weeks when leadership has started to reassign directors – very considered to be a pressure to stop them – and force lawyers to work on working groups devoted to certain priorities of Trump such as anti -Semitism or transgender problems.
Dhillon, in his remarks during the Federalist Society event, recognized the departures.
“We wish them good luck in their future efforts and their passions,” she said. “They must continue them elsewhere. It will not happen at Doj.”
Different from the first term Trump
Overall, the lawyers of the division feel like they could no longer do the work they have always been able to do, including during the first Trump administration.
Then there was no mass exodus, say the veterans of the department. The lawyers remained on the spot and continued their normal work. The administration has reduced the reduction – but did not end – work in some priority areas, such as the police.
But now, say the current and ancient officials, there is a feeling that the division arms the laws on the civil rights of the country against the populations that it is supposed to protect. They say that the abandonment of the traditional mission has been devastating. An official recalled lawyers walking in the corridors in tears or sobbing during the meetings.
“The division has a few hundred lawyers who were diligent to ensure that people were held responsible for discrimination,” said Young. “Without this application, without illegal discrimination being repressed by the work of the division, we will see, I think, much more illegal discrimination.”
