Senate Must Reject Anti-Civil Rights Nominee to Lead Civil Rights Division

Civil Rights Enforcement News 03.13.25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program and an advisor at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice:

“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval of Harmeet Dhillon’s nomination is an insult to communities across the country who depend on their government to investigate police departments that have a pattern of police abuse, to ensure their schools aren’t discriminating against children because of who they are, to safeguard their right to vote and have their vote counted, and to protect their access to lifesaving health care. A nominee with such an appalling civil rights record — including Ms. Dhillon’s work to oppose and undermine voting rights, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ rights — should be disqualified from serving as the leader of the Civil Rights Division. Shamefully, this is a hallmark of Trump’s nominees for critical civil rights enforcement positions. And it is outrageous.

“As the coalition that fought for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which created the division and authorized the position that Ms. Dhillon now seeks to hold, we are deeply alarmed at the direction this DOJ is already taking that puts real people’s lives, livelihoods, education, and more at risk. Given her disturbing record and her troubling responses during her hearing, it is clear that confirming Ms. Dhillon would only intensify the department’s crusade against our communities, our rights, and our democracy.

“Our federal civil rights laws have transformed America for the better, outlawing discrimination in nearly every facet of life and helping to increase life expectancies of Black people, providing for more protections against abusive policing, and ensuring increased voter participation. We deserve an assistant attorney general for civil rights who will protect these fundamental rights and freedoms rather than attacking civil rights with the force and resources of the DOJ. We urge senators to show up for the civil rights of their constituents — and for the future of our multiracial democracy — and demand better. Harmeet Dhillon’s nomination must be rejected.”

Leadership Conference resources

  • This week, The Leadership Conference and 65 national organizations wrote to senators in opposition to Ms. Dhillon’s confirmation. Read the letter here.
  • Following Ms. Dhillon’s testimony before the committee, The Leadership Conference released a memo highlighting many of her troubling responses. Read it here.
  • For more information about the history of the Civil Rights Division, the importance of strong leadership, and the recent whiplash in federal civil rights enforcement, read our brief here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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