President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he plans to appoint a conservative California legal professional to steer a vital division of the Division of Justice.
Harmeet Dhillon, a former vice chairwoman of the California GOP and a nationwide committeewoman for the Republican Nationwide Committee, was chosen by Trump to function assistant legal professional basic for civil rights on the Justice Division. She would change Kristen Clarke, who turned the primary girl and first Black girl to run the division in 2021.
Trump, who described Dhillon as one of many “high Election legal professionals” within the nation in his Reality Social announcement, stated that she would have a big position in voting rights enforcement.
“All through her profession, Harmeet has stood up persistently to guard our cherished Civil Liberties, together with taking up Huge Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who had been prevented from praying collectively throughout COVID, and suing companies who use woke insurance policies to discriminate towards their staff,” he wrote.
Dhillon combated stay-at-home orders throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She filed a number of lawsuits towards government-level rules, arguing there was overreach. The lawsuits Dhillon filed got here after Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom turned the primary governor to subject statewide stay-at-home orders to close down nonessential actions and pursuits to fight the unfold of the coronavirus.
In 2018, Dhillon based the conservative nonprofit The Heart for American Liberty, which has filed lawsuits difficult vaccine necessities and trans-inclusive college insurance policies. Most notably, Dhillon at present represents Chloe Cole, a younger activist who sued Kaiser Permanente in California after she detransitioned from male to feminine. Cole has rallied alongside Republican politicians and conservative media figures, and has testified in help of dozens of state legal guidelines proscribing entry to gender-affirming look after trans youth.
Dhillon is extremely vital of blue states that purpose to uphold and shield rights for transgender individuals in mild of ongoing legislative assaults. She stated Maine’s “defend” regulation, which protects reproductive well being care suppliers and trans individuals, is “unconstitutional” and expressed considerations about future protections in California.
A staunch opponent of abortion herself, the legal professional additionally unsuccessfully represented anti-abortion activist David Daleiden, who in 2016 used a faux driver’s license to pose as a biomedical firm government and tried to purchase fetal tissue from Deliberate Parenthood, in an effort to accuse the well being care supplier of promoting tissue for revenue.
Dhillon, who was born in India and is a training Sikh, has confronted pushback from fellow Republicans on account of questions of her religion. After she introduced in 2022 that she would problem RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel for her place, a number of members of the RNC circulated a video of Dhillon opening a 2016 Republican Nationwide Conference with a Sikh prayer. In a letter to Alabama Republicans in 2023 responding to the incident, Dhillon addressed considerations about her religion and slammed McDaniel’s management. Alabama Republican Chris Horn questioned how Dhillon’s faith would affect coverage to NBC. McDaniel condemned assaults on faith however told Politico her allies questioned how Dhillon’s religion would affect the social gathering.
Final 12 months, former Fox Information host and conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson employed Dhillon to signify him in a gender discrimination lawsuit by his former producer, Abby Grossberg. The following settlement resulted in Fox paying Grossberg $12 million.
“I’m extraordinarily honored by President Trump’s nomination to help with our nation’s civil rights agenda,” Dhillon stated in a submit on X (previously generally known as Twitter). “It has been my dream to have the ability to serve our nice nation, and I’m so excited to be a part of an unimaginable staff of legal professionals led by @PamBondi. I can not wait to get to work!”
Lil Kalish contributed reporting.
