Harmeet Dhillon Resigns as DOJ Civil Rights Chief After Democrats' Midterm Sweep

Updated: Dhillon says she resigned three weeks ago, at her own decision

Harmeet Dhillon said on Thursday that she was not asked to resign. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, she said she made the decision weeks before the Republican midterm losses and that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles asked her to delay her departure until after the election. "I wasn't asked to resign. I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms," Dhillon said. "My decision, my choice. It's time."

Dhillon formally submitted her resignation on November 5, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. She said she told Wiles three weeks before Election Day that she believed she had accomplished everything she came to Washington to do and that she wanted to return to private practice. On her time running the Civil Rights Division, she said: "We changed it, and that's what we came here to do. And it's done." She said roughly 300 attorneys departed the division during the administration, per recent reports cited by Fox News, and that she recruited more than 130 lawyers during her tenure of roughly 19 months, after her nomination in December 2024 and her Senate confirmation and swearing in in April 2025.

Asked whether she would testify before Congress if subpoenaed after leaving, Dhillon said there would be limits on what she could discuss because of executive privilege. "I would certainly take legal counsel and follow it in that regard," she said. Asked whether she expected President Trump to pardon her or other officials, she said she had never discussed it with him or asked for it, and that she had done nothing that would require one. KTVU carried the same Fox News Digital reporting, including her account that she resigned three weeks earlier and that Wiles asked her to wait.

Updated 18:02 UTC: Justice Department confirms the resignation

Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed on Thursday that he has accepted Dhillon's resignation. In a post on X, Blanche credited her with leading the Civil Rights Division "with conviction the past 18 months," Bloomberg Law reported. CNN reported the same announcement. "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." The confirmation settles the question left open in the first reports, which said the department had not yet commented. Dhillon is the first senior Justice Department official to resign after Democrats swept the midterm elections.

Harmeet Dhillon is leaving the Justice Department, according to reports from two outlets on Thursday, in what would be the first senior departure from the department since Democrats won big in this week midterm elections.

Bloomberg Law reported that Dhillon plans to step down from her role leading the Civil Rights Division. She has told allies that she would be leaving the department after the midterm elections, according to four people familiar with the matter, and her official announcement is expected as soon as Thursday, two of the individuals said. Fox News, citing its own sources, reported that Dhillon resigned on Thursday as assistant attorney general for civil rights. Neither Dhillon nor Justice Department spokespeople responded to requests for comment, Bloomberg Law reported, and no department statement confirming the move had been issued in either account.

A short and busy tenure

Dhillon was confirmed by the Senate in April 2025 and took charge of the Civil Rights Division, which she has reshaped since then, Bloomberg Law reported. Before joining the department she was a Republican Party official and a campaign lawyer for President Donald Trump. In an August roundtable interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors, she indicated that she planned to return to her California based law firm, Dhillon Law Group, after her time at the department.

In the run up to the midterms, Dhillon defended the administration investigation into noncitizen voters in a 60 Minutes interview, Fox News reported. In that exchange, host Lesley Stahl said: "There are people who feel that the point is to sow distrust about the whole election system. There are very few people who are noncitizens who end up voting, very, very few. And so, therefore, what's the purpose?" Dhillon replied: "The point is actually the opposite of what you were saying. It's not to sow distrust. The distrust is there. And so, all of these kinds of crimes are being prosecuted now for the first time really, in volume. And look, even the Biden administration prosecuted 13 people for noncitizen voting."

More exits expected

Dhillon would be the second Senate confirmed Justice Department official to depart in recent weeks. Patrick Davis resigned from the Office of Legislative Affairs last month, Bloomberg Law reported. Former officials told the outlet the department is bracing for several other top political appointees to leave during the lame duck period before the New Year, after Republicans lost the House and the Senate in this week elections, as Fox News reported.