Press Release: 4/29/2025

Trump’s A.G. Pam Bondi Guts DOJ’s Voting Rights Leadership

 

Published: Apr 28, 2025

President Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi removed the leadership team of the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and ordered the dismissal of all the section’s active cases. The Voting Section enforces the federal laws protecting the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Acts.

MEDIA CONTACT

David Vance

National Media Strategist 

dvance@commoncause.org

WASHINGTON—President Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi removed the leadership team of the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and ordered the dismissal of all the section’s active cases. The Voting Section enforces the federal laws protecting the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Acts.

Common Cause’s Senior Vice President of Policy and Litigation, Omar Noureldin, served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights during the Biden-Harris administration.

Statement of Omar Noureldin, Common Cause Senior Vice President, Policy and Litigation

The Trump administration’s gutting of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division is doing profound and lasting damage to the protection of voting rights in the United States. The removal and reassignment of the section’s leadership and the dismissal of cases are themselves attacks on the voting rights of every American.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s systematic removal of career attorneys and staff is not confined to the voting section – it extends to the entire Civil Rights Division. The upheaval and loss of experience will leave the division unable to enforce the nation’s civil rights laws.

As a former presidential political appointee at DOJ, I have the utmost respect for the Civil Rights Division’s career attorneys and staff. I saw firsthand the critical work they perform in ensuring the civil rights of every American are protected.

The mission of the Civil Rights Division is not, and has never been, partisan. Its mission is to enforce the nation’s civil rights laws impartially and vigorously. That is a job the division has done admirably across administrations for more than 60 years.

It is critical that the current administration reverse course in order to ensure that the civil rights laws passed by Congress are enforced effectively. And Congress must maintain vigilant oversight of DOJ and ensure the Civil Rights Division is adequately funded.