Updated on: April 4, 2026 / 3:41 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump is expected to make leadership changes affecting two senior Justice Department posts, sources told CBS News.
Officials say the likely moves would involve Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the department’s No. 3 official, and Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Civil Rights Division. Senior aides have discussed promoting Dhillon to one of the top department roles while demoting Woodward, though it was unclear whether final decisions had been reached.
The discussions about Dhillon’s possible promotion follow Mr. Trump’s ouster of Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this week amid complaints she had not aggressively pursued criminal charges against the president’s political opponents. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters.
Mr. Trump named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general earlier this week; it remains unclear whether he will be the permanent replacement. Other reported front-runners include Lee Zeldin, a former congressman who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency.
Woodward previously worked as a defense attorney for several prominent Trump allies, including White House adviser Peter Navarro, former FBI official Kash Patel and Walt Nauta, a defendant in the classified documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. He also represented Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keepers member convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack before Mr. Trump later commuted Meggs’ sentence. Woodward has faced criticism from some pro-Trump figures, including far-right influencer Laura Loomer, over his wife’s support for progressive causes.
The Associate Attorney General supervises the Civil Rights Division, Antitrust Division, Civil Division and Environment and Natural Resources Division, as well as the department’s grant-making offices and trustee program.
Dhillon, a staunch Trump loyalist, currently leads the Civil Rights Division. The office has undergone major change under her tenure: more than 75% of its attorneys departed over the past year, many taking buy-outs or early retirements amid concerns about new mission statements she issued. Dhillon has aligned the division closely with Mr. Trump’s priorities, opening investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities, suing to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, and litigating to obtain unredacted voter registration lists from dozens of states. She also created a new division section focused on gun rights and halted efforts to reach consent decrees with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville after prior Biden-era investigations found systemic constitutional abuses.
Last year, more than 200 former Civil Rights Division attorneys signed an open letter accusing Dhillon of destroying the office, which was established under the 1957 Civil Rights Act to combat Jim Crow–era segregation and protect Black voting rights.