US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday nominated Indian-American Harmeet K Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice.
“I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice,” Trump announced on Truth Social, a social media platform owned by him.
“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished civil liberties, including taking on big tech for censoring our free speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers,” he said.
“Harmeet is one of the top election lawyers in the country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School, and clerked in the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals,” Trump said.
“Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community. In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our constitutional rights, and will enforce our civil rights and election laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY,” said the President-elect.
In a post on X, she said she is “extremely honored by President Trump’s nomination to assist with our nation’s civil rights agenda.”
“It has been my dream to be able to serve our great country, and I am so excited to be part of an incredible team of lawyers led by Pam Bondi. I cannot wait to get to work!” she wrote.
Dhillon, a well-known lawyer from San Fransisco, who runs Dhillon Law Firm, has remained in the headlines since COVID. According to Los Angeles Times, “Dhillon has been an ardent defender of Trump and represented him in some of his legal cases.”
Legal Defense Fund (LDF), an American premier legal organization fighting for racial justice, denounced the nomination of Dhillon to serve as the Department of Justice’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. In a release it said, “Dhillon has spent her career eroding public trust in our electoral process and participating in a larger effort to undermine racial equity initiatives. In 2020, she recklessly spread conspiracy theories about the integrity of our elections, going so far as to suggest that Supreme Court justices should intervene on President Trump’s behalf. ‘We’re waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court – of which the President has nominated three justices – to step in and do something. And hopefully Amy Coney Barrett will come through,’ she said. This suggestion that justices should be influenced to rule in favor of a president simply because he appointed them is a stunning departure from the rule of law and should be disqualifying for any Department of Justice lawyer, let alone the head of the Civil Rights Division.”
Dhillon was born in India and raised in rural Northern California. Her ascent in Republican Party politics began in San Francisco, where she has long lived and first served as chair of the local chapter of the GOP. She later rose to the No. 2 position in the state party and still represents California on the Republican National Committee.
She also made headlines internationally when she offered Ardas at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, during election campaign. She said while praying, “I come from a family of Sikh immigrants and I’m honoured to share with you, my fellow Republicans and guests tonight, a prayer from my faith and tradition practised by over 25 million worldwide.”
“These last 48 hours have been some of the most intense, yet most prayerful of our lives… We recite the Ardas prayer before any new endeavour, giving thanks to God and asking him for his protection and help uphold the values of humility, truth, courage, service and justice for all,” and thanked “Waheguru.”
She described Trump’s Chardikala spirit as “the tireless and uplifting spirit that is sustained even in the face of violent adversity, like a founding father centuries.”
She has openly criticized India for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and plotting murder of Khalistan supporter Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Former Union Cabinet Minister and current MP – Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal, while congratulating her on platform X, wrote, “It is a matter of great pride that Indian American lawyer Harmeet Kaur Dhillon who is steeped in Sikh culture and heritage, has been nominated as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights by President elect Donald Trump. I wish Ms Dhillon the very best for her new assignment and am confident she will champion civil rights in keeping with the concept of ‘sarbat da bhala’ as propounded by the Guru Sahiban.”
