Democratic senators question US Justice Department on civil rights changes
Link to Full Article (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-senators-question-us-justice-department-civil-rights-changes-2025-04-28/)
Reuters - Dan Levine and Sarah N. Lynch
April 28, 20254:21 AM MDT
Seven Democratic senators are asking the U.S. Justice Department for information about changes to its civil rights division made by President Donald Trump's administration including reassigning several career officials who had held leadership positions.
The senators, all members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter dated on Friday to top Justice Department officials citing several recent moves that the lawmakers said appeared to change the division's enforcement objectives.
Founded in 1957 following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the division initially focused on protecting the voting rights of Black Americans. ... Congress expanded its responsibilities to include protecting Americans from discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, gender identity and other characteristics.
Since Trump began his second term as president, ... the division has paused investigations of alleged police abuse and launched its first investigation into whether Los Angeles violated gun rights laws. Following Trump's lead, the department also changed its stance on transgender rights and investigated alleged antisemitism at U.S. colleges involving pro-Palestinian protesters.
"The division relies on the abilities and knowledge of its career staff to carry out the great responsibility of enforcing the nation's civil rights laws without regard to politics," the senators wrote.
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The Aministration has also dismantled several federal agencies whose purpose was the enforcement of civil rights, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among others.