The Trump administration has shifted staff and undertaken a series of policy changes at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division that current and former staff say strike at the heart of its mission.

Justice Department leadership has in recent weeks directed attorneys to focus on priorities laid out in executive orders from President Trump, such as “Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports” and “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.”

It’s a departure for a division that under former President Biden described itself as protecting the civil rights of all Americans, including “some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”

“The impact is catastrophic. They are scaling back possibly, nearly all enforcement that they have been doing for decades on civil rights statutes they're required to enforce,” said Stacey Young, a longtime Civil Rights Division attorney who now runs Justice Connection.

“This is a monumental shift in the way the division operates, and it's going to result in American civil rights not being protected as they almost always have been.”

The department last week removed roughly a dozen career leaders from their positions, pushing some into unrelated roles responsible for responding to public information requests and a complaint adjudication office. Many have since resigned, leaving many sections without any leadership beyond political appointees, with additional departures expected.

Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights under former President Obama, said the moves were “sidelining an enormous amount of very nonpartisan expertise” that has enforced the law under administrations of both parties.

“And the only reason you do that is if you didn't think that the laws were worth enforcing. That actually should really raise eyebrows in Congress,” he said.

The sweeping changes come less than three weeks after the swearing in of Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s assistant attorney general for civil rights.

The former co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, Dhillon backed Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election and also was among those defending him against a Colorado lawsuit arguing he should be barred from running for office due to leading an insurrection.

The California lawyer has made a name for herself by championing conservative causes, suing on behalf of Trump supporters who said actions taken by San Jose police enabled a

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