Attorneys In DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Resign
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is undergoing one of its most sweeping transformations in decades, as over 100 attorneys have reportedly resigned in protest of a stark shift in mission under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The new direction, spearheaded by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, aligns closely with the president’s executive priorities—and it’s causing a seismic upheaval within the federal agency charged with enforcing civil rights laws.
In a candid weekend interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Dhillon laid out the new order: protect civil rights, yes, but not through the lens of “woke ideology.”
According to Dhillon, the division is now pivoting away from policing statistical disparities in law enforcement and abortion clinic protests, and instead focusing on Trump’s directives—curbing DEI initiatives, challenging transgender participation in women’s sports, and addressing antisemitism.
This repositioning has triggered a mass exodus. Dhillon says she didn’t fire anyone—but she made it unmistakably clear that the division’s purpose had changed. The message? Adapt or exit. And exit they did.
Estimates suggest the number of attorneys in the division could fall to 140 or fewer—down from around 380 in January. Those leaving include seasoned attorneys who led investigations into police misconduct, voting rights violations, and disability discrimination.
Some have taken advantage of a voluntary buyout program that expired this week, offering pay through September in exchange for early resignation.
Critics, especially on the left, view the timing of the buyouts as more than a coincidence. In a sharply worded letter, Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee accused Dhillon and the administration of using the buyout as a tool to hollow out the division’s longstanding mission and install loyalists in its place.
While Dhillon insists political affiliation is irrelevant, she’s explicit about one non-negotiable: loyalty to the president’s civil rights agenda. “We don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police departments,” she told Beck.