Reshaped civil rights mission at Justice Department transforms its work, workforce

Harmeet Dhillon has pushed out hundreds of longtime attorneys, replaced many with inexperienced ideological allies, and used the division's enforcement powers to pursue the president's agenda.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5264x3509+0+0/resize/5264x3509!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9b%2F4e%2F2c2f0cb3427e9b27690da4edd19d%2Fgettyimages-2290391709.jpg' alt='Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice, during an interview in Washington, D.C., in August 2026.'/><p>Harmeet Dhillon has pushed out hundreds of longtime attorneys, replaced many with inexperienced ideological allies, and used the division's enforcement powers to pursue the president's agenda.</p><p>(Image credit: Al Drago)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-145063' />