Senators request oversight hearing to investigate Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine DOJ
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, along with Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Subcommittee on the Constitution colleagues Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) demanded answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department’s Civil Rights Division. The Senators separately called for Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to immediately hold an oversight hearing with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on the politicization of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
In the Senators’ letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the lawmakers expressed deep concerns about several directives issued by the Trump Administration that could jeopardize the Division’s work to enforce and protect the Constitutional and statutory civil rights of the American people. The Senators also requested an immediate briefing for the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution regarding changes to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division since January 20, 2025.
“According to public reporting, at least five of the Division’s sections have received directives via email to employees which change long-standing Division enforcement objectives. The five sections are meant to protect voting rights, prevent discrimination by federal funding recipients, investigate illegal bias in housing, prohibit discrimination in education, and defend the rights of those with disabilities. The directives have not been shared publicly,” wrote the Senators. “Based on the reporting, these directives may well be inconsistent with Congress’s intent in enacting the landmark civil rights legislation that is enforced by the Division.”
The Senators continued: “We have also heard alarming reports that no career officials remain in the Division’s leadership. Our understanding is that the enforcement oversight responsibilities normally handled by career Deputy Assistant Attorneys General will instead be transferred to political appointees. Reportedly, career supervisors in various sections have also been reassigned, while others have left. These losses mirror a similar pattern across the Department of Justice, including the removal of career officials from the Office of Professional Responsibility and the firing of the Pardon Attorney. The Division relies on the abilities and knowledge of its career staff to carry out the great responsibility of enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws without regard to politics.”
“Finally, we have also heard alarming reports that you authorized a second voluntary buyout for Division employees immediately before issuing the previously mentioned directives. Taken together, these measures appear to be an attempt to cajole career officials at the Division to leave voluntarily in order to fundamentally transform its work,” the Senators concluded.
Read and download the full letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Read and download the full letter to Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Chairman Schmitt.
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