Civil Rights Law and Enforcement

President Trump’s assertion that civil‑rights laws have “very badly” harmed White people has coincided with a shift at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division toward challenging state affirmative‑action and DEI policies, including a June inquiry into Rhode Island’s long‑standing hiring plan and a lawsuit against Minnesota’s statutory affirmative‑action civil‑service requirements. DOJ officials say there are “dozens of active investigations” into alleged illegal discrimination tied to DEI, while former Civil Rights Division attorney Jen Swedish calls the division politicized and NAACP President Derrick Johnson rejects the administration’s “reverse‑discrimination” narrative as false and misleading.