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Politics

Three Justice Department Officials Resign Days After Democrats Retake Congress

Harmeet Dhillon, Jason Reding Quiñones and John Eisenberg left the Justice Department in the days after the midterm elections, as the department faces Democratic oversight and a hard road to confirm replacements.

By admin Nov. 6, 2026 · 3:44 PM ET 3 min read

The limestone exterior of the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington, D.C., with tall columns and trees along the street.

Three senior Justice Department officials resigned in the days after Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats retook both chambers of Congress. Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division, left on Thursday. Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney in South Florida, and John Eisenberg, who led the National Security Division, followed on Friday.

An empty American federal courtroom with a wooden judge's bench, American flags and rows of wooden benches.
An empty American federal courtroom with a wooden judge’s bench, American flags and rows of wooden benches.

Dhillon was the first senior official to leave the administration after the elections. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her resignation in a post on X, writing that she had “led the Civil Rights Division with conviction” and that the department was grateful for her service.

Dhillon led the division for about 18 months after her Senate confirmation in April 2025. She moved its work away from voting access and police reform and toward fights against what she called “woke ideology,” according to CNN. More than 75 percent of the division’s lawyers were fired or left during her term, CNN reported, and the lawyers hired to replace them did not make up for the loss of experience. Judges across the country threw out lawsuits she brought seeking access to voter rolls, and in recent weeks she had been pushed aside from the department’s voting cases. She told the White House in early October that she planned to leave, and she plans to return to her law firm, the Dhillon Law Group.

A wooden gavel resting on a stack of tied legal files and law books on a desk.
A wooden gavel resting on a stack of tied legal files and law books on a desk.

The prosecutor behind the “grand conspiracy” probe

Quiñones resigned from his post as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida under pressure from department leadership, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by CNN. He led a broad investigation into President Donald Trump’s political foes, which the department described as a “grand conspiracy” case. His office won an indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, one of the most consequential indictments brought by the administration. But he had promised a case within months against former government officials involved in the investigations of Trump and his campaign from 2016 to 2024, and when that case did not come, top department officials blamed him. Blanche announced his departure in a social media post on Friday, saying the department was “grateful for Jason’s leadership.”

Eisenberg announced his resignation on Friday as well. CNN reported that he led the department’s National Security Division.

The U.S. Capitol building lit up at dusk, viewed across the lawn with trees on either side.
The U.S. Capitol building lit up at dusk, viewed across the lawn with trees on either side.

What comes next for the department

The turnover had been expected for weeks, CNN reported, and some of the departing officials are expected to return to law firm jobs. With Democrats set to run oversight in Congress, some department officials see the outspoken officials as a liability. The administration may have trouble getting new officials confirmed by a Democratic Senate, and the president could install acting leaders instead. Democrats are not likely to lose interest in investigating the actions of Dhillon and Quiñones after their departures, according to CNN.

Reporting based on coverage by CNN.

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