Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, has pursued a conservative agenda targeting liberal institutions, extracting agreements and personnel changes from over 100 schools over diversity and antisemitism policies. She publicly declared her intent to "go after Harvard" in a private gathering last September, a sentiment echoed by former President Trump. Dhillon has repurposed a unit originally designed to combat Jim Crow injustices into a tool against what she views as entrenched liberal establishment, a mission rooted in her undergraduate years at Dartmouth College.

Her confrontational style has alienated colleagues and sparked internal dissent, contributing to a mass exodus of career staff that reduced division personnel by half or more since her April 2025 takeover. Despite her efforts, Dhillon has lost all 23 federal lawsuits filed to obtain confidential voter data from states, with courts rejecting her demands for Social Security and drivers’ license information. She has also scrapped environmental justice settlements and police reform agreements from Minneapolis and Louisville, while stepping back from investigating civil rights violations by law enforcement in certain cases.

Nevertheless, she continues over 40 misconduct investigations against officials and has pursued cases involving sexual harassment and religious discrimination. Dhillon maintains her actions are grounded in enforcing federal law, particularly Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and denies personal animus toward elite universities.