Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, an Indian-American lawyer who served as assistant attorney general for Civil Rights and headed the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has resigned, marking the first departure of a senior administration official since the US midterm elections.Dhillon’s exit comes after a controversial tenure during which the division underwent a sweeping change in priorities, moving away from several investigations into police practices while pursuing cases involving diversity policies at universities, admissions practices and allegations of antisemitism on campuses.Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her departure on X on Thursday, praising her leadership and saying she had defended the civil liberties of Americans and enforced the law “without fear or favour”.Dhillon, however, maintained that the decision was entirely hers and had been made weeks before the elections. Speaking to Fox News Digital, she said White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had requested that she delay the announcement until after Election Day. “My decision, my choice,” she said, adding that she wanted to return to the private sector.In a separate post on X, Dhillon described her time in office as “the honour of a lifetime”, highlighting her role in advancing the administration’s position on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and women’s sports.“We ushered in the downfall of illegal DEI, we fought to protect women and girls’ sports, and so much more,” she wrote, thanking Trump for the opportunity.Her tenure was marked by a sharp reduction in the division’s workforce, with more than three-quarters of its staff at the beginning of Trump’s second term leaving the department. Dhillon welcomed the departures, describing them as the “biggest single personnel self-purge in DOJ history”.The changes also drew strong criticism from former Justice Department officials, who accused her of weakening the division’s traditional role in enforcing civil rights protections. Stacey Young, a former division attorney who now leads a network of Justice Department alumni, called Dhillon “the most destructive, lawless and hateful” head of the division in its history.Before her appointment, Dhillon had built a profile in Republican politics and conservative legal circles. Her San Francisco-based law firm represented Trump in several legal battles, including a dispute involving the congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. She also unsuccessfully contested the Republican National Committee chairmanship in 2023.Born in Chandigarh into a Punjabi Sikh family, Dhillon moved to the US as a child after her parents left India. Her father was an orthopaedic surgeon, and she has spoken about her parents’ decision to settle in America as a defining moment in her life. She became a naturalised US citizen at the age of 10.Dhillon’s resignation adds to the list of Indian-origin figures who have held prominent positions in American politics and public service. Dhillon’s departure comes amid the growing presence of Indian-origin Americans in senior positions in US politics and public service. Other prominent names include Vice President JD Vance’s wife Usha Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and former White House AI adviser Sriram Krishnan. The community has also had a significant presence in the Democratic establishment, including former vice-president Kamala Harris, former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden.