Justice Department's Vanita Gupta to Depart, Leaving Legacy in Abortion and Police Reform

Vanita Gupta, the third-ranking official at the Justice Department, will be stepping down early next year. Gupta, who has focused on police accountability, abortion rights, and antitrust issues, has overseen civil litigation under Attorney General Merrick Garland. During her tenure, she led a reproductive rights task force, sued Idaho over a restrictive abortion law, and increased prosecutions of antiabortion activists. Gupta's departure comes as the Justice Department faces critical tests heading into a presidential election year, including high-profile legal cases involving former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. She is credited with streamlining consent decrees and negotiating a settlement to prohibit the separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, many of the issues she focused on, such as challenging abortion restrictions and investigating police departments, remain unresolved.