U.S. Senator Katie Britt Questions DOJ Nominees on Ensuring Election Integrity, Combatting Antisemitism on College Campuses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today participated in a confirmation hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for the nominations of Harmeet Dhillon to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division, Aaron Reitz to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Policy, and John Sauer to serve as Solicitor General.
Senator Britt began by expressing her support for Nominee Aaron Reitz. She stated, “I am not only grateful for your service to this nation and the U.S. Marine Corps, but what I have seen you do for Senator [Ted] Cruz firsthand. As a former Chief [of Staff] myself, I know what it takes to make it all work, and to make sure that your boss and your state in the nation are in the best place possible. You have done that in a manner that is second to none . . .”
She also questioned Nominee Harmeet Dhillon on the importance of election integrity, specifically on verifying citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. “Alabama feels strongly about making sure that every single person has access to vote, that we make that easier, whether that’s providing free voter ID, whether that’s coming to your house to allow you to register. We want to make sure that every citizen does that,” she said.
Senator Britt continued, “We also want to make sure that that vote is protected. Part of the work of the Civil Rights Division relates to protecting that right to vote. In my view, it’s an important part of protecting the right of American citizens to vote, and it’s to ensure that the votes aren’t diluted by those who have actually no right to vote.”
Last Congress, Senator Britt introduced the Citizen Ballot Protection Act, the Senate companion to Representative Gary Palmer’s (R-Ala.) legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would ensure States are able to better verify that only American citizens are voting in federal elections. After stating her intent to reintroduce this bill in the 119th Congress, Senator Britt said, “I think many people across the nation would be shocked to know that states are currently hamstrung when it comes to requiring proof of citizenship as part of certain voter registration processes. It’s common sense to ensure that only American citizens are registering to vote in our elections.”
Dhillon initially thanked Senator Britt for her legislative efforts saying, “. . . while the NVRA [National Voter Registration Act of 1993] doesn’t itself, of course, bar states from requiring proof of citizenship, courts have done that and laid that prohibition . . . I do think that it would be a tremendous boost to voter confidence in the integrity of elections in the States if there was assurance that only citizens are voting, similarly, that they’re only voting once . . . ”
Dhillon continued, “I think that’s also very important in the current self-certification system has not only allowed people to maliciously vote when they weren’t entitled to. It’s actually led many legal immigrants to unknowingly cast a vote, and thereby putting their own ability to become United States citizens in peril . . . I do think that it would be a tremendous boost to voter integrity and confidence. And that, in turn, would cause more Americans to come out to vote, which I think all of us want on both sides of the aisle.”
The last concern Senator Britt brought to Nominee Dhillon’s attention was the Biden DOJ’s failure to appropriately address the rise of antisemitism in the United States in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks on Israel, particularly on college campuses. This issue is of particular importance to Senator Britt, who in November of 2024 penned an open letter to Jewish college students. Her letter was written amid an alarming rise in antisemitism on college campuses and a week after Israeli and Jewish soccer fans were violently attacked in a modern-day pogrom in Amsterdam.
Senator Britt highlighted President Trump’s executive order last month which led to the establishment of a multi-agency task force to combat antisemitism that will be coordinated through the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ. She asked Dhillon, “Once confirmed as the head of the Civil Rights Division, can you ensure me that you will take aggressive action via this task force to ensure that Jewish students are protected from abuse and harassment and that those who engage in such behavior will be subject to the full force of the law?”
Dhillon affirmed this was a “high priority” for her, stating, “Coming from a religious minority myself, I think it is very important and crucial that the Civil Rights Division step up to defend students on campus because it is a blow, not just to those individual students, but to the entire community when they see, campus administrators refuse to protect them.”
A link to her full remarks can be viewed here.
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