Harmeet Dhillon stepped down from her role leading the Justice Department’s civil rights unit, marking the first senior DOJ official to resign following Democrats’ massive midterm wins.
Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed in a post on X that he accepted Dhillon’s resignation. Dhillon, who has vastly transformed the Civil Rights Division since her Senate confirmation in April 2025, had told allies that she would be leaving the department after the midterm elections, according to four people familiar.
He credited her with leading the division “with conviction the past 18 months.”
Dhillon would be the second Senate-confirmed DOJ official to depart in recent weeks, following Patrick Davis’ resignation from the Office of Legislative Affairs last month. “The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors.
“She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor,” Blanche said. Former officials said the department is bracing for multiple other top political appointees to exit in the lame duck period before the New Year. “In terms of private practice, when the president is done with me, I loved being a lawyer in private practice,” Dhillon said, adding that she planned to take what she learned from her time at DOJ and “continue to help plaintiffs.
Dhillon, a former Republican Party official and campaign lawyer for President Donald Trump, previously indicated in an August roundtable interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors that she planned to return to her California-based law firm, Dhillon Law Group, following her tenure at DOJ.
