On April 3, 2025, Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts 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 Ricketts cast the deciding vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, whose department then dismissed more than 50 school desegregation cases.
Ricketts voted to confirm EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, whose agency stopped investigating most disparate-impact discrimination charges, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, whose department closed seven of the civil rights agency's 12 regional offices and left Nebraska families' complaints in a national backlog of about 25,000 pending complaints.
Pete Ricketts's Confirmation Votes on Civil Rights Enforcement
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Harmeet Dhillon, Whose Division Walked Away From at Least 36 Race Discrimination Cases. On April 3, 2025, Pete Ricketts 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 Since January 20, 2025, the Civil Rights Division has shut down, withdrawn from, or sought to end at least 36 cases and investigations addressing discrimination against Black, Latino and Native American people, according to Red Line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.
- Ricketts Cast the Deciding Vote for the Attorney General Who Dropped More Than 50 School Desegregation Cases. On August 8, 2026, Ricketts voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, and the vote was 50 to 49, so Blanche would not have been confirmed without Ricketts'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.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi, Who Ordered Hiring Discrimination Cases Dismissed. On February 4, 2025, Ricketts 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.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Andrea Lucas, Whose EEOC Stopped Investigating Disparate-Impact Discrimination Charges. On July 31, 2025, Ricketts 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.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Linda McMahon, Whose Education Department Closed Seven Regional Civil Rights Offices. On March 3, 2025, Ricketts 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.
What the Retreat From Civil Rights Enforcement Means in Nebraska Under Pete Ricketts's Votes
- Student civil rights complaints. Complaints from Nebraska students and families go to an Education Department civil rights office that, after the March 2025 layoffs, faces a national backlog of about 25,000 pending complaints, and the office's own data show that the total number of resolved cases is down about 40%.
- Workers. Nebraska 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.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Civil rights
What is Pete Ricketts's record on civil rights under Trump?
Pete Ricketts 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 seven regional civil rights offices.
What happened to school desegregation cases under the attorney general Pete Ricketts confirmed?
Pete Ricketts 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 Pete Ricketts vote to confirm Harmeet Dhillon?
Yes. Pete Ricketts voted on April 3, 2025 to confirm Harmeet Dhillon as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and she was confirmed 52 to 45. By October 2026 some 300 attorneys have left the division, NPR reported, and the division had walked away from at least 36 cases and investigations of discrimination against Black, Latino and Native American people.
Last updated: 2026-10-25