The Guardian - Trump’s justice department appointees remove managers of voting unit

Section is responsible for enforcing laws designed to prevent voter discrimination, raised alarm about voting rights enforcement

Sam Levine in New York
Mon 28 Apr 2025 10.17 EDT

Donald Trump’s appointees at the Department of Justice have removed all of the senior civil servants working as managers in the department’s voting section and directed attorneys to dismiss all active cases, according to people familiar with the matter, part of a broader attack on the department’s civil rights division.

The moves come less than a month after Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon was confirmed to lead the civil rights division, created in 1958 and referred to as the “crown jewel” of the justice department. In an unusual move, Dhillon sent out new “mission statements” to the department’s sections that made it clear the civil rights division was shifting its focus from protecting the civil rights of marginalized people to supporting Trump’s priorities.

Tamar Hagler, the chief of the voting section, which is responsible for enforcing federal laws designed to prevent voter discrimination, and five top career managers were all reassigned last week to the complaint adjudication office, a little-known part of the department that handles employee complaints, according to people familiar with the matter. A career line attorney in the section has also been reassigned to the complaint adjudication office.

The voting section had seven managers in January overseeing around 30 attorneys. Of the two other managers, one retired and another was detailed to work on an antisemitism task force.

Political appointees have also instructed career employees to dismiss all of their active cases without meeting with them and offering a rationale – a significant break with the department’s practices and norms.

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