Dhillon leaves US civil rights post as accounts of exit differ

Harmeet Dhillon resigned as head of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday, 5 November. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X that he had accepted her resignation.

Dhillon set out her plans in her letter. She said she had told White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in early October that she would leave after the midterm elections.

CBS News gave a different account of her exit. Two sources told the network that President Donald Trump had demanded her dismissal. They said this followed her appearance on 60 Minutes on 18 October.

The network said officials delayed the move so she could leave after the election, as planned. The White House said Dhillon had done an excellent job.

CBS News said Dhillon had changed the unit’s focus. It said she put more weight on gun owners’ rights and sought to curb diversity policies at universities. It also said she opposed civil rights protections for transgender people.

More than 75% of the unit’s staff left last year under her leadership, CBS News reported.

The network said the unit ended more than 50 longstanding court deals with public schools. Many were in the Deep South. It also dropped pending police reform deals in Minneapolis and Louisville. Those deals still needed court approval.

NBC News said the unit filed lawsuits alleging bias at elite universities.

Kristen Clarke, a former head of the unit, criticised Dhillon’s record. Clarke is now the NAACP’s general counsel. She said Dhillon had failed in her duty to enforce federal civil rights laws, The Guardian reported.

Dhillon wrote on X that serving in the post had been a great honour.