Shift in U.S. Department of Justice’s Approach
A significant change is taking place within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, largely driven by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
In a conversation on Blaze TV’s show “Rufo & Romes,” hosted by Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Romes” Keeperman, Dillon discussed efforts to move government agencies away from a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and towards a more color-blind approach to equality under the law.
“You’re introducing a completely different perspective on civil rights law to the Department of Justice,” Rufo noted to Dillon. “That’s definitely not an easy task.”
Dillon acknowledged the challenges, stating, “This is a very daunting job. Honestly, when I responded to the president’s request, I anticipated it would be one of the toughest positions here. The Civil Rights Division doesn’t typically change much between administrations.”
She attributes this stability to the backgrounds of many civil rights lawyers, who often come from left-leaning ideologies. “That’s not exactly a bad thing. Historically, in this country, there was a lot of discrimination against various groups, including African Americans and women,” Dillon pointed out. However, she added, “As society has addressed many of these issues, there seems to be an ongoing push from certain circles to extend those boundaries further to the left.”
This perspective presented a significant hurdle for Dillon in her fight against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. “A common saying from the Reagan administration is that appointments reflect policy, so one of our major challenges was figuring out how to implement the president’s agenda with staff who disagreed with it,” she explained.
She mentioned that transitioning into her role was actually smoother than expected because she quickly issued a memo to various sections in the Office of Civil Rights. This memo outlined a shift in focus to align with the president’s agenda, grounded in constitutional civil rights laws. “That single memo, just a couple of paragraphs to a lot of lawyers, prompted over half of them to resign immediately,” she noted.
Following this, when the Justice Department offered an early retirement program, even more staff opted to leave.
“We ended up losing about two-thirds of our Civil Rights Division staff, so the main question became, how do we effectively promote civil rights while aligning with the president’s agenda?” Dillon remarked. Despite the initial difficulties, she expressed satisfaction with their progress: “I’m glad to say we made it through.”
She concluded, “We’ve brought in many talented individuals, both young and more experienced. They are very eager to help with the important work that’s making headlines.”
