On April 3, 2025, Ohio Senator Jon Husted voted to confirm Harmeet Dhillon to run the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which then shut down, withdrew from or sought to end at least 36 cases and investigations of discrimination against Black, Latino and Native American people, and lost most of its staff. In August 2026 Husted cast the deciding vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, whose department then dismissed more than 50 school desegregation cases.
Husted voted to confirm EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, whose agency stopped investigating most disparate-impact discrimination charges, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, whose department closed the civil rights office in Cleveland that handled complaints from Ohio students. As Ohio secretary of state he backed the 2014 law that ended Golden Week, a form of voting that NBC News reported was used disproportionately by Black voters.
Jon Husted's Confirmation Votes and Ohio Record on Civil Rights Enforcement
- Husted Voted to Confirm Harmeet Dhillon, Whose Division Walked Away From at Least 36 Race Discrimination Cases. On April 3, 2025, Jon Husted voted to confirm Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights, and she was confirmed 52 to 45 with no Democratic votes. Since January 20, 2025, the Civil Rights Division has shut down, withdrawn from, or sought to end at least 36 cases and investigations addressing discrimination against Black, Latino and Native American people, according to Red Line for Civil Rights, a tracker run by former Justice Department lawyers. In December 2025 the department finalized a Title VI rule ensuring that only intentional discrimination violates Title VI from now on, as the law firm Cooley summarized it, so policies with discriminatory effects no longer break those rules unless intent is proven. By October 2026 some 300 attorneys have left the division, NPR reported.
- Husted Cast the Deciding Vote for the Attorney General Who Dropped More Than 50 School Desegregation Cases. On August 8, 2026, Husted voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, and the vote was 50 to 49, so Blanche would not have been confirmed without Husted's vote. On September 24, 2026, DOJ announced the dismissal of more than 50 school desegregation cases without publishing a list, and Red Line found cases in which the department did not ask the courts to find that the districts had ended the effects of past segregation.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi, Who Ordered Hiring Discrimination Cases Dismissed. On February 4, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, and she was confirmed 54 to 46. On February 26, 2025, Bondi directed the dismissal of cases over hiring tests, including a case in Durham, North Carolina, where DOJ alleged that a firefighter hiring test unlawfully screened out Black applicants, and one in Cobb County, Georgia, where the parties reached a settlement with $750,000 in back pay that never took effect, Red Line reported.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Andrea Lucas, Whose EEOC Stopped Investigating Disparate-Impact Discrimination Charges. On July 31, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Andrea Lucas to a new term on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which she chairs, and she was confirmed 52 to 45. In September 2025 the EEOC said it will close almost all pending charges based solely on allegations of disparate impact, according to the law firm Littler, so workers who say a hiring test or job requirement screens them out by race or sex must now sue on their own.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Linda McMahon, Whose Education Department Closed the Civil Rights Office That Served Ohio. On March 3, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Linda McMahon as secretary of education, and she was confirmed 51 to 45. In March 2025 McMahon's layoffs closed Seven of the civil rights agency's 12 regional offices, at locations in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The office's own data showed the total number of resolved cases is down about 40%, and in December 2025 OCR now has about 25,000 pending complaints, NPR Illinois reported.
- As Ohio Secretary of State, Husted Backed and Defended the 2014 Law That Ended Golden Week, Used Disproportionately by Black Voters. In 2014, as Ohio secretary of state, Husted backed the law under which Ohio Senate Bill 238 eliminated the first week of early in-person voting in Ohio and with it Golden Week, the week when Ohioans could register and vote on the same day; NBC News reported that Husted and the Republican legislature cut early voting opportunities and eliminated the period when voters could register and vote on the same day. When a federal judge restored Golden Week, the defendants in the case, NAACP v. Husted, sought a stay, and on September 29, 2014 the Supreme Court granted Defendants' request and blocked that order, so the cuts applied in the November 2014 election. Both methods of voting are used disproportionately by African-American voters, NBC News reported, and while courts restored many early voting hours, the elimination of same-day voter registration was allowed to stand.
- As Ohio Secretary of State, Husted Defended the Voter-Removal Process That Hit Democratic-Leaning Neighborhoods Hardest. As secretary of state, Husted defended Ohio's "Supplemental Process," under which voters who skip elections are sent a notice and are removed if they fail to vote in any election for four more years, and the Supreme Court upheld it 5-4 on June 11, 2018 in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. A Reuters analysis found that voters in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods were removed at around twice the rate of voters in Republican-leaning neighborhoods in Ohio's three largest counties. The voting-rights page covers this record in full.
What the Retreat From Civil Rights Enforcement Means in Ohio Under Jon Husted's Votes
- Student civil rights complaints. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights office in Cleveland, which handled complaints from Ohio students and families, was one of the seven regional offices closed in March 2025, so Ohio complaints now join a national backlog of about 25,000 pending complaints.
- Workers. Ohio workers who believe an employer's hiring or promotion test screens them out by race or sex can no longer count on the EEOC to investigate, because the agency will close almost all pending charges based solely on disparate impact.
- Same-day registration. Ohio voters have had no week to register and vote on the same day since 2014, because the elimination of same-day voter registration was allowed to stand after the court fights over the law Husted backed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jon Husted on Civil rights
What is Jon Husted's record on civil rights under Trump?
Jon Husted voted to confirm Harmeet Dhillon and Pam Bondi, whose Justice Department walked away from dozens of race discrimination cases and removed disparate impact from its Title VI rules, and he cast the deciding vote for Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose department dismissed more than 50 school desegregation cases. He voted to confirm EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, whose agency stopped investigating most disparate-impact charges, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, whose department closed the Cleveland civil rights office that served Ohio.
What happened to school desegregation cases under the attorney general Jon Husted confirmed?
Jon Husted cast the deciding vote on August 8, 2026 to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, and on September 24, 2026 the Justice Department announced the dismissal of more than 50 school desegregation cases. It did not publish a list of the cases.
Did Jon Husted's record as Ohio secretary of state affect Black voters?
Jon Husted backed the 2014 law that ended Golden Week, and early voting and same-day registration were the two methods used disproportionately by African-American voters, NBC News reported. The NAACP and other groups sued, saying the cuts violated equal protection by reflecting an intent to suppress voting specifically by African Americans.
Last updated: 2026-10-25