Who is Harmeet Dhillon? Indian-origin lawyer quits Trump’s Justice Department
Indian-origin lawyer Harmeet Kaur Dhillon has resigned as head of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Read why she left and who she is
PTC Web Desk: Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, an Indian-origin lawyer, has resigned as head of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She is the first senior Trump administration official to step down since the Republicans’ heavy defeat in the midterm elections.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her exit on Thursday. In a post on X, he said she had defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favour. He added that the department was thankful for her service and wished her well.
Harmeet Dhillon said the decision was her own. She told Fox News that she had held back the announcement until Election Day because White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles asked her to. On X, she called her time as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights an “honour of a lifetime” and thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity.
She did not give a specific reason for leaving and said the move was voluntary.
Looking back at her tenure, Harmeet Dhillon said her team worked to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that she described as illegal, and pushed to protect women’s and girls’ sports.
She is also well known for her strong social media presence, where she often posted videos about the division’s work. In interviews, she admitted that these posts often helped generate ideas for civil rights investigations.
Who is Harmeet Dhillon?
Harmeet Dhillon was born in Chandigarh into a Punjabi Sikh family. Her parents first moved to London and later settled in the United States.
A lawyer by profession, she ran her own law firm in San Francisco for many years and was close to Trump even before she joined his administration. Her firm was part of the legal team for his 2020 election campaign. A strong Trump supporter, she regularly appeared on conservative podcasts.
Speaking at a Moms for Liberty event in New York in May, she called her parents’ decision to bring the family to America the “greatest gift.” She said her father was an orthopaedic surgeon. Her parents left India in the 1970s and went on to the US, which was short of doctors at the time and was encouraging medical professionals to come during the Vietnam War.