The new Democratic Congress is expected to investigate the Trump Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division’s handling of the Epstein file and the ICE killings.
Published November 5, 2026
The top head of the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division has resigned as President Donald Trump’s administration prepares for a flurry of congressional investigations into the immigration officer shooting and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon in a social media post Thursday.
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“Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon,” Blanche wrote to X. “She has championed the civil liberties of all Americans and enforced the law without fear or favor.”
Dillon, a powerful ally of President Trump, was confirmed to take up the role in April 2025 and has overseen a major overhaul of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which is tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Hundreds of former Justice Department officials wrote a letter in December condemning the “destruction” of the department under the Trump administration.
Dillon is the first senior official to resign from the Trump administration since Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections, in which the U.S. Democratic Party won control of both chambers of Congress.
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, likely to become the new chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Accountability Committee, pledged Wednesday to tackle four major investigations, including abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the Epstein scandal.
Mr. Dillon reportedly told his staff earlier this year that he would not investigate the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Preti, two American citizens shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, although he is normally tasked with investigating law enforcement homicides.
In May, Garcia accused the administration of continuing to shield Trump from scrutiny related to unreleased documents related to the Epstein investigation.
During a closed-door hearing in which Blanche’s predecessor, Pam Bondi, was questioned by lawmakers about the incident, Garcia, D-Calif., claimed that Dillon repeatedly intervened to block questions about the president’s relationship with the release of the files.
When asked when Dillon submitted his resignation, the Justice Department referred Al Jazeera to Blanche’s social media posts. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
