We track developments that reflect meaningful shifts in how the Civil Rights Division approaches its mission. We err on the side of inclusion and transparency, but we do not attempt to catalog every case or docket entry. Our goal is to highlight trends, variations, and departures from past practice—and to place those developments in context.

The Division continues to pursue cases, investigations, and settlements that began under prior administrations, and it has filed new matters since January 20, 2025, that reflect longstanding civil rights values and precedent. For example, in September 2025 the Division sued Uber for denying rides to passengers with service dogs and wheelchairs. The same month, the Division sued the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi for terminating an employee who opposed and complained about sexual harassment in the workplace. These cases are not included on Red Line’s website because they do not represent a substantial change in the Division’s work. 

If there’s an update or a case you believe we should include, email us at info@redlinecivilrights.org.

Yes. Every administration sets enforcement priorities, and shifts in emphasis are expected. Over the years, different administrations have focused on areas such as policing, disability rights and accessibility, sexual harassment in housing, or environmental justice while operating within the same basic framework and understanding of the Division’s mission: to protect the civil and constitutional rights of all people in the United States, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

What is different now is the scale and nature of the changes. This Administration is not simply setting new priorities. It is abandoning and seeking to roll back protections for historically marginalized communities and sidelining the norms and processes that have anchored civil rights enforcement across administrations of both parties. It is advancing political objectives, rather than decisions grounded in fact and law.

Further, Attorney General Pam Bondi has taken the extraordinary position that Department of Justice lawyers are the President’s lawyers and thus must execute the political interests of the Administration. Thus, the Division has aggressively pursued cases to carry out the various presidential executive orders at the cost of the Division’s longtime obligation to advance civil rights, particularly for the most vulnerable. 

Red Line for Civil Rights exists to make these shifts transparent and to provide the public with a clear picture of how and where the Division’s work is departing from its obligation to faithfully enforce civil rights laws.

The current Trump Administration is using multiple federal agencies to reshape civil rights law and enforcement. Agency offices for civil rights are increasingly initiating investigations, terminating funding, revising regulations, and imposing new conditions on federal contracts to further these goals. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are among those similarly undergoing significant shifts in their enforcement approaches consistent with the Administration’s objectives. Across the federal government, agencies are realigning priorities and funding decisions to conform to the Administration’s civil rights agenda.

At present, Red Line for Civil Rights only tracks actions by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Red Line for Civil Rights is a project of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal organization committed to advancing an inclusive democracy for all people. 

Red Line for Civil Rights operates with editorial independence. All opinions expressed by Red Line for Civil Rights are solely the views of the Red Line staff or bylined author and do not necessarily represent the views of, or reflect the specific positions or goals of, Democracy Forward, the Democracy Forward Foundation, or their affiliates, staff, donors, or supporters. Democracy Forward’s leadership, staff, and supporters do not determine editorial decisions about Red Line’s content. Red Line’s editors independently decide which topics to pursue, how they are reported, and how they are edited.