Sources told The Daily Wire that President Donald Trump plans to nominate Harmeet Dhillon as Associate Attorney General this week, the No. 3 position at the Department of Justice. Dhillon currently serves as the U.S. Assistant Attorney General overseeing the department’s Civil Rights Division.
According to the sources, Stanley Woodward — whom Dhillon would replace if confirmed by the Senate — resigned on Saturday. An earlier report from CBS News indicated that Trump had planned to demote Woodward.
Dhillon is a well-known and highly respected attorney within the conservative movement. In the immediate aftermath of former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s abrupt firing last week, her name was among several bandied about as possible replacements.
Following the Republicans’ underwhelming performance in the 2022 midterms, she challenged then-incumbent Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel in January 2023, “campaigning on a platform of leadership change.”
At the time, Dhillon expressed concern over Republicans’ repeated “failure to win elections” during McDaniel’s tenure — a critique that was well founded. She would have made a strong RNC chair, but ultimately lost the race by a 111–51 margin. One year later, under pressure from then-candidate Trump and other Republican leaders, McDaniel resigned.
According to Dhillon’s DOJ bio:
Dhillon founded both the Dhillon Law Group, Inc., a successful legal practice with offices in California, Florida, Virginia, and New Jersey; and the Center for American Liberty, a nonprofit organization dedicated to pursuing civil liberties legal claims. Her law practice focused on First Amendment / free speech, civil rights, and campaign and election law issues. Among her many notable cases, Ms. Dhillon brought legal challenges against the University of California, Berkeley over its free speech policy, against an Antifa organization for an assault on a conservative journalist, against several states for their restrictive responses to Covid-19, and against various large tech companies for a host of civil rights issues.Assistant Attorney General Dhillon was born in Chandigarh, India, and lived in London before moving to The Bronx, New York. Her family ultimately settled in rural Smithfield, North Carolina. After graduating high school at age 16, Ms. Dhillon attended Dartmouth College where she became editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Review. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies, she attended the University of Virginia School of Law and served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. She later clerked for the Honorable Paul V. Niemeyer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Baltimore, Maryland.
CBS News reported that prior to his role at the DOJ:
Woodward served as a defense attorney representing many prominent Trump allies in the past, including White House adviser Peter Navarro, FBI Director Kash Patel and Walt Nauta, who was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the classified documents case.He also represented Kelly Meggs, one of the Oath Keepers who was convicted for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, before Mr. Trump later commuted his sentence.He has come under attack from some of Mr. Trump’s allies, notably far-right influencer Laura Loomer, over his wife’s support for progressive causes.
The Daily Wire reported that the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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