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The Department of Justice has been hemorrhaging staff under President Donald Trump, with thousands of attorneys leaving and few being hired to replace them, according to a new report.
Since January, nearly 5,500 DOJ career employees have quit, taken a buyout, or been fired, according to Justice Connection, an advocacy group composed of department alumni.
A Justice Connection spokesperson told The Independent that its estimates are based on both public reporting and non-public information the group has gathered.
As a result, the department is grappling with sweeping vacancies amidst a dearth of qualified applicants, according to The Washington Post.
Historically, the Justice Department — which employs more than 10,000 attorneys nationwide — has been a magnet for top legal talent, drawing applicants from Ivy League schools and white shoe law firms. But sources told the outlet that the recent mass firings and concerns about politically motivated prosecutions may be driving people away.
A department spokesperson told The Independent, “The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently by hiring the best and most qualified individuals to serve the American people.”
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The DOJ is now grappling with sweeping vacancies amidst a dearth of qualified applicants (Reuters)
During Attorney General Pam Bondi’s tenure, longtime prosecutors assigned to cases viewed as “anti-Trump” have been forced out, with those who prosecuted January 6 rioters being particularly targeted. Most of the 600 employees in the Civil Rights Division and about 80 immigration judges have also left the department.
Across the nation, U.S. attorneys’ offices have experienced abnormally high rates of turnover.
Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for Chicago, emailed former prosecutors in August, asking them if they’d consider returning to government work and to forward his message to “potentially interested friends.”
“I was astonished,” Mark Rotert, a former federal prosecutor based in Chicago, who received the recruiting email, told The Washington Post. “I have never seen anything like that.”
In August, Jeanine Pirro, the former FOX News host turned U.S. attorney for D.C., announced that her office had lost 90 prosecutors, according to The Washington Post. She instructed lawyers to send her an email if they wanted a job.
“Staff shortages preceded my arrival here,” Pirro told The Independent. “Thanks to President Trump, we are aggressively working to rebuild and strengthen our team. We’ve welcomed over 70 new (assistant U.S. Attorneys) and are set to onboard 30 more by January.”
William Treanor, the ex-dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, told the Post that applications to the DOJ have fallen off a cliff.
“What we are seeing is a total drop in who is applying,” Treanor said. “It’s very, very dramatic. It’s gone from a good amount of our graduating class to virtually no one applying for jobs at the Justice Department.”
Instead of applying for jobs in federal law enforcement, many attorneys are seeking out work in state government, sources told the outlet. Of those who are applying for roles at the DOJ, many tend to be ideologically aligned with Trump.
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In August, Pirro announced that her office had lost 90 prosecutors (AFP via Getty Images)
Sources told The Washington Post that there are a few factors that could explain the drop-off in applicants.
For one, the Justice Department — which pays significantly less than the private sector — has long had a reputation for job security. The Trump administration’s recent firings have undermined this view.
“At the same time, some potential hires fear they could be put in compromising positions in which they would be forced to bring cases they felt would be unethical to present to a grand jury,” the outlet reported.
It noted that DOJ applicants are asked to name a Trump executive order or action that matters to them personally and discuss how they would fight for that policy.
In recent months, the department has taken up cases that have struck some observers as being politically motivated — or brought based on weak evidence.
For example, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on charges of obstructing justice and lying to Congress in October. The indictment came just days after Trump urged Bondi to prosecute his opponents without “delay.”
And this summer, Pirro attempted to charge a former DOJ employee who threw a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer with a felony. After a grand jury refused to indict the man, who became a symbol of resistance to Trump, Pirro went ahead with a misdemeanor assault charge. In November, a jury found him not guilty.
