US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday his intention to nominate Harmeet K Dhillon, an attorney of Indian descent and a longtime supporter of Trump, to lead the civil rights division of the Department of Justice.
He commended her legal actions against social media firms, restrictions on religious gatherings due to the pandemic, and what he referred to as “woke policies” implemented by companies to discriminate against employees.
“Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished civil liberties,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Dhillon’s appointment as the assistant attorney general for civil rights represents a change in the typical Republican administrations’ tendency to reduce efforts on civil rights, indicating a more confrontational position on the cultural battles that now characterize modern America.
A Firm supporter of Trump
Dhillon, 55, has been an outspoken and prominent advocate for Trump, garnering national recognition for her passionate support of the president and his initiatives.
She served as a legal consultant for his 2020 presidential campaign and co-led the organization Lawyers for Trump, which contested the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Dhillon’s allegiance to Trump has occasionally created tension with her fellow Republicans, yet her backing for him has been unwavering.
Her support has not been free of debate. In a 2020 episode of British TV host Piers Morgan’s program, after Morgan referred to Trump as “an ostrich with his head buried in the sand” regarding his management of the Covid-19 crisis, Dhillon’s unwavering support for the president caused Morgan to become noticeably exasperated and unable to interject. He subsequently announced that she would not receive another invitation.
A proud Sikh (the ‘K’ in her name represents Kaur), she performed an Ardas prayer at the Republican National Convention, which Trump attended, shortly following an assassination attempt on him.
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Life journey
Born in Chandigarh, India, in 1969, Dhillon moved to the United States with her family when she was two years old. She was raised in a Sikh family in rural North Carolina before relocating to New York City.
She enrolled at Dartmouth College, obtaining a degree in Classical Studies and English, and subsequently obtained her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a member of the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review.
Dhillon’s initial career involved a clerkship with Judge Paul V Niemeyer of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a position in the Constitutional Torts Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. She subsequently acquired significant litigation and constitutional law expertise at the renowned firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Dhillon has established a reputation for engaging in prominent cases that are key to conservative cultural and legal conflicts. In 2017, she represented the Berkeley College Republicans in a lawsuit against the University of California, Berkeley, for calling off a speech by conservative speaker Ann Coulter.
In 2019, she filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles, claiming it failed to confirm citizenship for voter registration.
