Rufo & Lomez Harmeet Dhillon Is Going to War Against DEI
Feb 24, 2026
Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General leading the Civil Rights Division and longtime conservative lawyer, discusses reorganizing DOJ civil-rights work and challenging DEI practices. She outlines using civil-rights statutes to pursue colorblind enforcement, litigating against corporate DEI, targeting universities and medical schools, and building durable conservative legal infrastructure.
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Rebuilding Civil Rights Enforcement Around Colorblindness
- Harmeet Dhillon reframed the Civil Rights Division toward colorblind enforcement using existing civil rights statutes rather than dismantling them.
- Early memos prompted mass resignations and a two-thirds staffing drop, forcing a personnel rebuild to implement the new agenda.
Using Old Laws For New Colorblind Claims
- Dhillon described using traditional civil rights laws to protect parental rights and challenge DEI policies.
- She cited her Google case and cited the Supreme Court Ames and Students for Fair Admissions precedents as proof these tools work for race-neutral claims.
Start With Top Tier Institutions For Maximum Impact
- Prioritize impact litigation against top-tier institutions to set legal and cultural precedents that trickle down to thousands of schools and corporations.
- Focus resources on elite targets first, then expand to lower tiers for maximum effect.