President Donald Trump has nominated Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney, media personality, and Republican Party official, to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). If confirmed, Dhillon will lead the division of the DOJ charged with upholding core civil rights and liberties in many aspects of American life.
Dhillon is known for her work supporting President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election as well as for her persistent attacks against transgender people, their rights, and their health care. She is founder of the Dhillon Law Group and the Center for American Liberty, a right-wing impact litigation organization.
While the ACLU does not endorse or oppose executive branch nominees as a matter of organizational policy, we have spent more than 100 years holding power accountable. In line with that history, we are examining and publicizing nominees’ records on civil rights and civil liberties and urging senators to seek and obtain commitments from nominees on key concerns. We note that nominee Dhillon served on the board of the ACLU of Northern California from 2002 – 2005 and while we appreciate her support of civil rights and liberties during that time, we have strong concerns about the evolution of her positions and her recent record.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was created for the very purpose of safeguarding the civil and constitutional rights of the most vulnerable among us, and it is charged with enforcing a wide range of federal civil rights laws. Consequently, ahead of Dhillon’s confirmation hearing, we’re analyzing her record on key issues, highlighting areas for senators to question the nominee and secure commitments to uphold our rights.
The Vital Role of the DOJ Civil Rights Division
Often called the “crown jewel” of the DOJ, the Civil Rights Division plays a crucial role in defending all civil rights and liberties, especially for marginalized communities. It is responsible for enforcing federal voting and election laws that protect access to the ballot, including the Voting Rights Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, National Voter Registration Act, and Help America Vote Act. These critical federal laws safeguard against voting discrimination based on race, language, and disability; provide for and facilitate voter registration opportunities without unreasonable burdens; set standards for election administration; ensure accessibility for military and overseas voters; and help ensure every eligible American can cast their vote and have their vote counted equally.
Through direct and coordinated actions, the Civil Rights Division enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), disability, religion, familial status, national origin, and citizenship status across many areas of life: employment, housing, education, and public accommodations. It works across federal agencies to achieve a strong, consistent approach to civil rights enforcement and ensure that recipients of federal funding abide by nondiscrimination requirements. It is charged with enforcing federal hate crime laws protecting against violence and threats on account of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
The Civil Rights Division is also tasked with investigating and taking action against police misconduct and discriminatory practices, as well as with protecting access to reproductive services. The Civil Rights Division enforces the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits interfering with access to abortion services, pharmacy-provided reproductive health services, pregnancy counseling services and other reproductive health care using violence, threats, obstruction, or property damage.
The scope and gravity of these responsibilities cannot be overstated and require a deeply-rooted commitment to protecting the civil rights of every individual, especially those in marginalized communities. Dhillon’s confirmation hearing comes as the current administration is abusing its power to unrelentingly attack and erode the civil rights and liberties of vulnerable communities across the country. This includes executive actions to undo decades of non-discrimination protections, restrict access to a diverse and inclusive education, and erase transgender people’s existence under the law, among many others.
Dhillon’s Record on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Dhillon has a long record of working to restrict voting rights, transgender rights, and abortion access.
- Voting and Elections: Dhillon criticized Executive Order 14019 on Promoting Access to Voting that, until President Trump rescinded it, directed agencies to offer nonpartisan voter registration opportunities for eligible Americans. She said it was an effort to “interfere with and override state election efforts.” She also advocated for restrictive policies before Congress, appearing in 2023 and 2021 before the U.S. House Committee on Administration and Subcommittee on Elections, respectively, to condemn private funding for local election administration, criticize provisions of the For the People Act that would require less burdensome voter ID rules, and denounce legal efforts to ensure that voter roll maintenance activities comply with federal law and do not result in eligible voters being improperly removed from voter rolls. Furthermore, Dhillon has played a prominent role in spreading false claims about voting that sow distrust in free and fair elections. She was a key figure in Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election, spreading baseless allegations of voter fraud in the media and through litigation.
- Protecting Marginalized Communities: Dhillon’s rhetoric and actions have, historically, targeted some of the very people and groups federal nondiscrimination law rightfully seeks to protect. She has criticized efforts to address racial inequalities, calling diversity efforts “racial divisiveness” and “racial balkanization” and referred to undocumented people as “the worst criminals” and “degenerates.” Dhillon has repeatedly targeted the rights of transgender children, using her nonprofit to bring lawsuits to end policies that protect transgender youth in schools, restrict access to necessary, even life-saving, gender-affirming medical care, and end nondiscrimination protections in foster care. Dhillon has also called for transgender women to be excluded from protection under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools and educational programs. She called state shield laws that protect transgender people and gender-affirming care providers unconstitutional, “crazy,” and “super extreme.” Dhillon went so far as to urge that it be “[made] unsafe” for providers of gender-affirming care.
- Reproductive Freedom: Dhillon has demonstrated her opposition to reproductive freedom. During her campaign for chairwoman of the Republican National Convention in 2022, she told the Washington Examiner “I’m one of the top lawyers for the pro-life movement in the country.”
Commitments Senators Must Demand at Dhillon’s Confirmation Hearing
Based on Dhillon’s track record, the ACLU is deeply concerned that she will attempt to use the Civil Rights Division to harm the very people it was created to protect. At her confirmation hearing, we are urging senators to ask Dhillon:
- Will you commit to using the authority and resources of the Civil Rights Division to protect and expand voting access; remove barriers faced by voters of color, voters with disabilities, and other marginalized voters; and robustly enforce all federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
- The claim that there is widespread voter fraud in our elections has been proven wrong time and time again and only serves to sow distrust in our elections. Do you disavow the claims you’ve made about fraud in our elections, and will you commit to completely refrain from further spreading such false claims?
- Do you believe the ongoing effort by the state of Texas to remove transgender youth from their parents’ custody because those parents supported their children in receiving medical care recommended by the American Medical Association is a violation of their parental rights? Would you oppose an effort by this administration to punish parents or seek to strip them of custody based on providing medical care to their children?
- Do you agree that the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County is a binding interpretation of what Title VII’s sex discrimination protections mean? Will you commit to fully enforcing those protections for LGBTQ people who face discrimination in the workplace?
- Do you believe that education entities, public accommodations, housing providers, and employers continue to discriminate against persons based on race, color, and national origin? If not, how do you explain ongoing disparities? If so, do you commit that the Civil Rights Division will investigate such discrimination complaints?
- Do you commit to ensure that the Civil Rights Division vigorously enforces all federal civil rights and nondiscrimination protections for all protected groups, including on the basis of citizenship status, nationality, and gender identity?
- Will you commit to prosecuting cases involving excessive use of force by police and racial profiling, regardless of political pressure or local opposition, and protect the rights of every person under the Fourth and First Amendment of the Constitution?
