President-elect Donald Trump has announced the nomination of Indian-American attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon for the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice. The announcement was made on Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Trump.
“I am proud to nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon for this vital role,” Trump stated. “Harmeet has consistently championed civil liberties throughout her career. She has taken on big tech for censoring free speech, defended Christians barred from praying together during COVID, and challenged corporations enforcing discriminatory ‘woke’ policies against their employees.”
Trump highlighted Dhillon’s expertise in election law, describing her as “one of the top election lawyers in the country,” committed to ensuring that only legal votes are counted. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School, Dhillon also clerked for the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As a prominent member of the Sikh religious community, Dhillon has faced racial attacks, including backlash after reciting the Ardas prayer at the Republican National Convention in July. Despite these challenges, she remains steadfast in her dedication to public service. Trump emphasized that in her new role, Dhillon will “defend constitutional rights and enforce civil rights and election laws with fairness and firmness.”
Born in Chandigarh, India, Dhillon, 54, moved to the United States as a child. In 2016, she became the first Indian-American to speak on stage at the GOP Convention in Cleveland. Last year, she ran for the position of Republican National Committee chair but was unsuccessful.
