The Fox Guarding the Civil Rights Henhouse

Day 10: A Disturbing Nominee for a Storied Role

Day 10–December 10, 2024

While not a Cabinet-level post, one of the most important positions in the federal government—both practically and symbolically—is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

This post has been at the vanguard of the most important progress the federal government has forged since the 1950s—lifting voting rights, equality and democracy, while tearing down segregation and discrimination.

Some of the nation’s most storied attorneys have served in the role—including Burke Marshall, who served under JFK and RFK, and Drew Days, who served under Carter. (I was honored to have both as law school professors.) More recently, Deval Patrick (Clinton) and Tom Perez (Obama) served in the role.

This week, Trump announced his choice for the post. And to lead a division whose core mission is to strengthen our democracy, he has nominated a lawyer who has spent her career doing the opposite.

Her name is Harmeet Dhillon.

According to leading voting rights attorney Marc Elias and his “Democracy Docket,” Dhillon has “become one of the leading legal figures working to roll back voting rights across the country. In the past few years, Dhillon…has been involved in more than a dozen different lawsuits…challenging voting rights laws, redistricting, election processes or Trump’s efforts to appear on the ballot in the 2024 election.”

In 2022, she ran (unsuccessfully) to chair the RNC. According to one analyst, her “main argument was that Republicans needed to invest in a larger army of lawyers to help conservatives carry out their lawfare dreams and restrict Americans’ access to the ballot.”

If Trump gets his way, she will now directly lead the army of lawyers she hoped to enlist as party chair. But she will do it as part of government itself—even worse, as part of the division whose mission is to protect voters and democracy.

And you will be paying for it all.