Last updated November 2026 · By Nick Hall, who tracks federal gun-rights enforcement and covered the Pennsauken, Connecticut, Minnesota and San Jose cases for USA Gun Shop
Quick take: Harmeet Dhillon is out as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Attorney General Todd Blanche accepted her resignation on Thursday, November 5. That matters to gun owners because her division is home to the Second Amendment Section, the office behind DOJ’s recent permit probes and lawsuits.
- What happened: Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on X on November 5, 2026 that he had accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
- Why it matters: The Civil Rights Division she ran contains the Second Amendment Section, which investigates local permit delays and sues over state and city gun laws.
- What’s next: The Division’s justice.gov homepage now lists Jesus A. Osete as Acting Assistant Attorney General.
- Who to watch: Barry Arrington, listed as Acting Chief of the Second Amendment Section, and whoever ends up in the top Civil Rights job for good.
Most DOJ personnel stories are inside baseball for gun owners. This one isn’t, because the person leaving was the official quoted in DOJ’s Pennsauken, Connecticut, Minnesota and San Jose releases. We pulled the two posts and the justice.gov pages so you don’t have to.
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Table of Contents
What Blanche and Dhillon Actually Said
Blanche broke the news in a short post on X at 12:38 p.m. Eastern on November 5. “Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division with conviction the past 18 months,” he wrote.
He added that she “defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor,” and that the Department is “grateful for her dedicated public service.”
Dhillon answered a little over an hour later in her own post from her official @AAGDhillon account. “Serving my country as AAG for Civil Rights has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote. “I want to thank President Trump for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to what’s next!”
That’s the whole primary record. Neither post gives a reason for the exit or names a permanent successor, and her own list of wins (DEI and women’s sports) doesn’t mention guns at all.
Where the Second Amendment Section Sits Inside Civil Rights
The gun angle runs through the org chart. DOJ’s own releases spell it out: “The Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section enforces the Second Amendment.” The Section’s web page lives on the Division’s part of justice.gov, and the Division homepage lists “Second Amendment” among its areas of work.
According to its Second Amendment Section page, the Section “investigates alleged patterns or practices of Second Amendment infringement by law enforcement,” files statements of interest in cases that affect the United States, and “utilizes affirmative litigation and coordinates amicus filings.” DOJ releases name its legal hooks as the Second Amendment, the Police Pattern or Practice Act (34 U.S.C. § 12601) and Executive Order 14206.
The same page lists Barry Arrington as the Section’s Acting Chief. And it runs a complaint form for gun owners who think a state or local government is infringing their rights.
The Gun Cases on Dhillon’s Watch
Dhillon was the quoted face of the Section’s work. When DOJ opened its Pennsauken permit-delay investigation on October 14, 2026, she said: “I have directed the Civil Rights Division, through our Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding citizens from local authorities who infringe on the right to safely carry legal firearms.”
On September 24 the Department sued Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul over the state’s 30-day waiting period for buyers who don’t plan to carry and the longer city waits that DOJ says reach nearly 60 days, and her line in that release was the sharpest of the lot: “When a person needs to defend their home, they need to defend it now, not thirty to sixty days from now.” Our write-up of the Minnesota waiting period suit has the details.
Eight days earlier, DOJ sued San Jose over a carry license fee it called “the highest in the nation” at nearly $1,600, the case we covered as the San Jose CCW fee lawsuit. On October 22 came another permit-delay probe, this time into Middletown and Waterbury, Connecticut.
The Section’s page also lists suits against California’s Glock ban and Virginia’s weapons law, both dated July 1, 2026, and against Montgomery County, Maryland on August 3.
What Dhillon’s Resignation Does Not Change
A resignation is not a dismissal. The Minnesota and San Jose suits were filed by the Justice Department, not by Dhillon personally, and nothing in Blanche’s post or on justice.gov says any case or investigation is being dropped. As of the morning of November 6, the Section’s page still lists those cases and still names Arrington as Acting Chief.
The top of the Division has already changed on paper. The Division’s homepage on justice.gov now carries a “Meet the Acting Assistant Attorney General” box listing Jesus A. Osete in that role.
Here’s my read, and it is opinion. The cases are filed and the complaint portal is live, so the machinery keeps running.
But the next fight, which town gets investigated and which state law gets a lawsuit, is a call made at the top, and nobody outside DOJ knows yet who makes it.
Same Section. Same docket. New boss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Harmeet Dhillon?
Harmeet K. Dhillon was the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on November 5, 2026 that he had accepted her resignation, saying she led the Division for the past 18 months.
Who runs the DOJ Civil Rights Division now?
As of November 6, 2026, the Civil Rights Division homepage on justice.gov lists Jesus A. Osete as Acting Assistant Attorney General. No permanent successor had been announced in either the Blanche or Dhillon posts.
What is the DOJ Second Amendment Section?
It is a section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division that enforces the Second Amendment. It investigates alleged patterns or practices of Second Amendment infringement by law enforcement, files statements of interest, brings lawsuits and coordinates amicus filings.
Who leads the Second Amendment Section?
The Section's page on justice.gov lists Barry Arrington as Acting Chief.
Does Dhillon's resignation end DOJ's gun-rights lawsuits?
Nothing announced says so. The suits against Minnesota and San Jose were filed by the Justice Department, and the Second Amendment Section's page still lists them. Neither Blanche's post nor justice.gov says any case or investigation is being dropped.
What laws does the Second Amendment Section enforce?
DOJ releases say the Section enforces the Second Amendment, the Police Pattern or Practice Act at 34 U.S.C. 12601, and Executive Order 14206, titled "Protecting Second Amendment Rights."
How do you report a Second Amendment violation to DOJ?
DOJ asks gun owners who believe a state or local government has infringed their right to keep or bear arms to submit a complaint through justice.gov/crt/second-amendment-section.
Related Reading
- DOJ Probes Pennsauken Gun Permit Delays in New Jersey
- DOJ Probes Middletown, Waterbury Gun Permit Delays
- DOJ Sues Minnesota Over 30-Day Handgun Purchase Wait
- DOJ Sues San Jose Over $1,591 Concealed Carry Fee
- DOJ Sues California Over Glock Ban and Handgun Roster
- DOJ Sues Virginia to Block SB 749 Assault Firearms Ban
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