 "Harmeet Dhillon speaks during a right-wing gathering known as America Fest, an event organised by Turning Point USA, in Phoenix, Arizona, US. December 20, 2022. Reuters")
US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday nominated Indian-American lawyer Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice.
Taking to his Truth Social, Trump wrote, “I am pleased to nominate Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice.”
Dhillon joins a growing number of Indian-Americans on Trump’s 2.0 Cabinet, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Kashyap Patel, and Usha Vance.
Who is Harmeet Dhillon?
Harmeet Kaur Dhillion, 54, was born in Punjab’s Chandigarh and moved to the US with her parents at the age of two. She grew up in a Sikh household in rural North Carolina, before relocating to New York City, according to India Today.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Literature from Dartmouth College, she went to the University of Virginia to obtain her law degree.
During her early career, she worked as a clerk with Judge Paul V Niemeyer of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and in the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Constitutional Torts Section.
Later, she worked for the esteemed firm Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, where she gained substantial experience in litigation and constitutional law.
In 2006, she founded her own law practice in San Francisco, where she focused on commercial litigation, employment law, and First Amendment rights.
A key figure in Republican politics, she served as a vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party and has been a member of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
In 2016, she was the first Indian-American to appear on the stage of the GOP Convention in Cleveland.
In July, Dhillon was trolled on social media for reciting ‘Ardas,’ a Sikh prayer , at the Republican National Convention, with Christian fundamentalists and ultra-conservatives saying she was offering prayers to a ‘foreign god’.
In 2020, she made headlines after she appeared on British TV personality Piers Morgan’s show and shut the host for describing Trump as “an ostrich with his head buried in the sand” for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While announcing her nomination, Donald Trump said, “Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers.”
Further praising her, the President-elect added that Dhillon is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and only, legal votes are counted.
In her new role at the DOJ, she will be a “tireless defender of our Constitutional rights,” and will “enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY,” according to Trump.
Who are the other Indian-Americans in the Trump 2.0 Cabinet?
Usha Vance – Second Lady
Usha Chilukuri Vance , wife of Vice President-elect JD Vance, will be the first Indian-origin Second Lady of the US.
She traces her roots to Andhra Pradesh and brings a wealth of credentials and a deep connection to Indian values and culture in the American political system.
Born to Indian immigrant parents, she was raised in an upper-middle-class suburb of San Diego. A litigator at a national firm, she has an impressive academic background.
According to the New York Times, Usha and JD Vance first met at Yale Law School and were married in Kentucky in 2014, with a Hindu priest presiding over a separate ceremony. The couple has three children together.
She has contributed significantly to her husband’s achievements.
Also read: Why Donald Trump has excluded Indian-origin Nikki Haley from his Cabinet
Dr Jay Bhattacharya – Director (NIH)
Kolkata-born Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya has been appointed as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the leading public funder of medical research in the country with a budget of nearly $47.3 billion.
The NIH, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary American government agency responsible for medical research and innovation.
Raised in a Hindu household, he is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University and serves as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in the US.
He gained attention earlier for critiquing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, advocating for targeted protection policies that prioritised individual freedom.
Kashyap Patel – Director (FBI)
Former Federal Prosecutor Kashyap Kash Patel has been appointed as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
He was born in 1981 in New York to Indian parents originally from Gujarat. His family emigrated from Uganda to the US in the 1970s.
A graduate of the University of Richmond, he is an expert with a certificate in international law from a university in the UK.
Patel became a trusted member of Trump’s inner circle thanks to his work in intelligence reform and national security during his first term.
Vivek Ramaswamy – DOGE
Vivek Ramaswamy , along with Elon Musk, will head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an informal advisory department that seeks to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce government spending, and restructure federal agencies.
The 39-year-old is a biotech entrepreneur, author, and political thinker.
He was born to Indian parents who immigrated from Kerala to the US in the 1970s.
Raised in Ohio, he graduated in Biology from Harvard University in 2007 and earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 2013.
Tulsi Gabbard – Director (National Intelligence)
Gabbard, a former Democrat and the first Hindu Congresswoman , was appointed as the Director of National Intelligence for Trump 2.0.
She is a four-term Congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate and is also a New York Times bestselling author.
She is a military veteran with three deployments to West Asia and Africa.
Recently, she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
With inputs from agencies