Two-thirds of the DOJ unit defending Trump policies in court have quit
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature Trump administration policies - such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding to Harvard University - has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, according to a list seen by Reuters.
Sixty-nine of the roughly 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch have voluntarily left the unit since President Donald Trump's election in November or have announced plans to leave, according to the list compiled by former Justice Department lawyers and reviewed by Reuters.
The tally has not been previously reported. Using court records and LinkedIn accounts, Reuters was able to verify the departure of all but four names on the list.
Reuters spoke to four former lawyers in the unit and three other people familiar with the departures who said some staffers had grown demoralized and exhausted defending an onslaught of lawsuits against Trump's administration.
"Many of these people came to work at Federal Programs to defend aspects of our constitutional system," said one lawyer who left the unit during Trump's second term. "How could they participate in the project of tearing it down?"
Critics have accused the Trump administration of flouting the law in its aggressive use of executive power, including by retaliating against perceived enemies and dismantling agencies created by Congress.
The Trump administration has broadly defended its actions as within the legal bounds of presidential power and has won several early victories at the Supreme Court. A White House spokesperson told Reuters that Trump's actions were legal, and declined to comment on the departures.
"Any sanctimonious career bureaucrat expressing faux outrage over the President's policies while sitting idly by during the rank weaponization by the previous administration has no grounds to stand on," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement.
The seven lawyers who spoke with Reuters cited a punishing workload and the need to defend policies that some felt were not legally justifiable among the key reasons for the wave of departures.
Three of them said some career lawyers feared they would be pressured to misrepresent facts or legal issues in court, a violation of ethics rules that could lead to professional sanctions.
All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics and avoid retaliation.
A Justice Department spokesperson said lawyers in the unit are fighting an "unprecedented number of lawsuits" against Trump's agenda.
"The Department has defeated many of these lawsuits all the way up to the Supreme Court and will continue to defend the President's agenda to keep Americans safe," the spokesperson said. The Justice Department did not comment on the departures of career lawyers or morale in the section.
Some turnover in the Federal Programs Branch is common between presidential administrations, but the seven sources described the number of people quitting as highly unusual.
Reuters was unable to find comparative figures for previous administrations. However, two former attorneys in the unit and two others familiar with its work said the scale of departures is far greater than during Trump's first term and Joe Biden's administration.
HEADING FOR THE EXIT
The exits include at least 10 of the section's 23 supervisors, experienced litigators who in many cases served across presidential administrations, according to two of the lawyers.
A spokesperson said the Justice Department is hiring to keep pace with staffing levels during the Biden Administration. They did not provide further details.
In its broad overhaul of the Justice Department, the Trump administration has fired or sidelined dozens of lawyers who specialize in prosecuting national security and corruption cases and publicly encouraged departures from the Civil Rights Division.
But the Federal Programs Branch, which defends challenges to White House and federal agency policies in federal trial courts, remains critical to its agenda.
The unit is fighting to sustain actions of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency formerly overseen by Elon Musk; Trump's order restricting birthright citizenship and his attempt to freeze $2.5 billion in funding to Harvard University.
"We've never had an administration pushing the legal envelope so quickly, so aggressively and across such a broad range of government policies and programs," said Peter Keisler, who led the Justice Department's Civil Division under Republican President George W. Bush.
"The demands are intensifying at the same time that the ranks of lawyers there to defend these cases are dramatically thinning."
The departures have left the Justice Department scrambling to fill vacancies. More than a dozen lawyers have been temporarily reassigned to the section from other parts of the DOJ and it has been exempted from the federal government hiring freeze, according to two former lawyers in the unit.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not comment on the personnel moves.
Justice Department leadership has also brought in about 15 political appointees to help defend civil cases, an unusually high number.
The new attorneys, many of whom have a record defending conservative causes, have been more comfortable pressing legal boundaries, according to two former lawyers in the unit.
"They have to be willing to advocate on behalf of their clients and not fear the political fallout," said Mike Davis, the head of the Article III Project, a pro-Trump legal advocacy group, referring to the role of DOJ lawyers in defending the administration's policies.
People who have worked in the section expect the Federal Programs Branch to play an important role in the Trump administration's attempts to capitalize on a Supreme Court ruling limiting the ability of judges to block its policies nationwide.
Its lawyers are expected to seek to narrow prior court rulings and also defend against an anticipated rise in class action lawsuits challenging government policies.
Lawyers in the unit are opposing two attempts by advocacy organizations to establish a nationwide class of people to challenge Trump's order on birthright citizenship. A judge granted one request on Thursday.
FACING PRESSURE
Four former Justice Department lawyers told Reuters some attorneys in the Federal Programs Branch left over policy differences with Trump, but many had served in the first Trump administration and viewed their role as defending the government regardless of the party in power.
The four lawyers who left said they feared Trump administration policies to dismantle certain federal agencies and claw back funding appeared to violate the U.S. Constitution or were enacted without following processes that were more defensible in court.
Government lawyers often walked into court with little information from the White House and federal agencies about the actions they were defending, the four lawyers said.
The White House and DOJ did not comment when asked about communications on cases.
Attorney General Pam Bondi in February threatened disciplinary action against government lawyers who did not vigorously advocate for Trump's agenda. The memo to Justice Department employees warned career lawyers they could not "substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election."
Four of the lawyers Reuters spoke with said there was a widespread concern that attorneys would be forced to make arguments that could violate attorney ethics rules, or refuse assignments and risk being fired.
Those fears grew when Justice Department leadership fired a former supervisor in the Office of Immigration Litigation, a separate Civil Division unit, accusing him of failing to forcefully defend the administration's position in the case of Kilmar Abrego, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador.
The supervisor, Erez Reuveni, filed a whistleblower complaint, made public last month, alleging he faced pressure from administration officials to make unsupported legal arguments and adopt strained interpretations of rulings in three immigration cases.
Justice Department officials have publicly disputed the claims, casting him as disgruntled. A senior official, Emil Bove, told a Senate panel that he never advised defying courts.
Career lawyers were also uncomfortable defending Trump's executive orders targeting law firms, according to two former Justice Department lawyers and a third person familiar with the matter.
A longtime ally of Bondi who defended all four law firm cases argued they were a lawful exercise of presidential power. Judges ultimately struck down all four orders as violating the Constitution. The Trump administration has indicated it will appeal at least one case.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's former jobs data chief decries firing of successor
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump's firing of the chief labor statistician was criticized by her predecessor, who called it an unfounded move that will undermine confidence in a key data set on the US economy. We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole NYC Mayor Adams Gives Bally's Bronx Casino Plan a Second Chance 'This is damaging,' William Beach, whom Trump picked in his first term to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. Trump on Friday fired Erika McEntarfer hours after labor market data showed weak jobs growth based in part on steep downward revisions for May and June. The move by Trump, who claimed the latest monthly report was 'phony,' prompted an outcry from economists and lawmakers. 'I don't know that there's any grounds at all for this firing,' said Beach, whom McEntarfer replaced in January 2024. 'And it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility in BLS.' Studies indicate that the agency's data is more accurate than 20 or 30 years ago, including any revisions of the initial data, Beach said. Even so, he said he'll trust future BLS data because people working for the agency are 'some of the most loyal Americans you can imagine,' making the bureau 'the finest statistical agency in the entire world.' Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, speaking Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, urged the US government to improve its data collection to avoid revisions that engender distrust. 'We watch what consumers really do. We watch what businesses really do,' Moynihan said, while not addressing the politics of the firing. 'They can get this data, I think, other ways, and I think that's where the focus would be.' He noted the revision for May and June data, while not unusual, was one of the largest in seven years. 'That creates doubt around it,' he said. 'Let's spend some money. Let's bring the information together. Let's find where else in the government money is reported.' McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan 86-8 vote. Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, voted to approve her nomination. Kevin Hassett, Trump's chief economic adviser at the White House, alleged that the large jobs data revisions were poorly explained and were evidence enough for a 'fresh set of eyes' at BLS. He sought to contradict Beach's portrayal of the agency as politically neutral. 'The bottom line is that there were people involved in creating these numbers,' Hassett said on NBC's Meet the Press. Pressed on whether Trump would fire anyone offering data he disagreed with, Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, disagreed. 'No, absolutely not,' he said. 'The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable.' How Podcast-Obsessed Tech Investors Made a New Media Industry Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts What's Really Behind Those Rosy GDP Numbers? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Teen Girl Endured Jealousy-Fueled Terror Before Throat Was Slashed — But Final Whisper Exposed Her Killer
Laurie Show was left to die on her bedroom floor — and two classmates were later convicted in the attackNEED TO KNOW Laurie Show, 16, was stabbed to death in her bedroom in 1991 — a murder prosecutors said was fueled by jealousy and planned by two classmates One of the killers, Tabitha Buck, posed as a school official to lure Laurie's mother away — then helped hold Laurie down while her throat was slit The killing was preceded by a months-long campaign of harassment. After her daughter's death, Laurie's mother pushed for Pennsylvania's first anti-stalking law, passed in 1993Laurie Show was just 16 when she was ambushed in her own bedroom — stabbed, slashed and left bleeding on the floor by classmates in what prosecutors would later call a murder fueled by teenage jealousy and rage. On the morning of Dec. 20, 1991, Laurie was found dying by her mother, Hazel Show, at her East Lampeter Township home in Lancaster County, Pa. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, her throat had been slit and more than two dozen defensive wounds were found on her body. She managed to whisper 'Michelle did it' as she lay dying, according to court transcripts cited by the Los Angeles Times. Police quickly identified three suspects: 19-year-old Lisa Michelle Lambert, 17-year-old Tabitha Buck, and 20-year-old Lawrence 'Butch' Yunkin. Lambert and Buck were classmates of Laurie's. The Inquirer reported that Lambert had become 'obsessively jealous' after Laurie briefly dated Yunkin the previous summer, and court documents noted Laurie had accused Yunkin of rape — a claim that intensified Lambert's hostility, per the outlet. Lambert and Buck systematically stalked and threatened Laurie, repeatedly calling the condo where she and her mother lived as well Laurie's workplace at the local mall. In one instance, Lambert punched Laurie at the mall — bystanders were too frightened to intervene, per the Inquirer. "Witness after witness told us of the threats of Lambert to kill Laurie, to kidnap Laurie, to harm Laurie, in any way possible by Lambert," prosecutor John Kenneff told ABC News. "And these were not necessarily Laurie Show's friends. Many of these [witnesses] were the friends and acquaintances of Lambert herself." Early on the morning of Dec. 20, Buck called Laurie's mother, Hazel, posing as a school counselor in order to lure the mother away. According to the Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, this enabled Lambert and Buck to enter the home while Hazel was gone. Prosecutors said Buck held Laurie down while Lambert repeatedly stabbed her and slit her throat. Yunkin, who waited in a getaway car, later admitted under oath to disposing of evidence, including blood-stained clothing and the murder weapon, per a December 1991 arrest affidavit . All three suspects were apprehended later that day at a bowling alley. Police noted fresh scratch marks on Buck, and investigators found Laurie's makeup — a powder compact and mascara — in her purse. Yunkin struck a plea deal in exchange for his testimony, pleading guilty to third-degree murder. He later admitted to lying under oath and had his sentence increased; he was eventually paroled in 2003, according to WGAL. In July 1992, Lambert was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy; Buck, a minor at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder. The Inquirer reported both received life sentences without parole. In 1997, U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell overturned Lambert's conviction during a federal habeas hearing, citing 'wholesale prosecutorial misconduct' including suppression of evidence and false testimony, according to ABC News. Dalzell declared Lambert 'actually innocent,' but his ruling was reversed in 1998 by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on procedural grounds, leading to her return to prison. Now, Lambert remains behind bars. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Buck's case resurfaced following the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that deemed mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. She was re-sentenced in 2017 to 28 years to life and was granted parole in late 2019, according to WGAL. She was released Dec. 21, 2019, at age 45, after nearly 28 years behind bars. Her parole is subject to strict conditions, including a ban on contact with Laurie's family and a prohibition on returning to Lancaster County, according to WGAL. Meanwhile, Hazel Show emerged as a leading advocate for anti-stalking legislation. According to the Los Angeles Times, her efforts led to the passage of Pennsylvania's first anti-stalking law — dubbed 'Laurie's Law' — in June 1993. 'Laurie was my life,' Hazel told Los Angeles Times reporters while campaigning for the bill. "I had to do something." Read the original article on People
New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
OPEC Plus Will Increase Oil Output
Eight countries that belong to the oil cartel known as OPEC Plus said Sunday that they would boost oil production by 547,000 barrels a day beginning in September, the latest in a series of monthly increases that began in April. The move, in effect, reverses a program of 2.2 million barrels a day in output cuts that was put in place in 2023 to tighten supply and prop up the markets. The announcement from OPEC Plus was expected and so may have little impact on prices. 'We expect a limited negative market reaction,' analysts at the investment bank Jefferies said in a note to clients after the announcement. After years of pursuing production restraints, the group, led by Saudi Arabia, is taking advantage of what analysts view as a relatively short-term window in the oil market to boost output. The United Arab Emirates and other countries have chafed at restraints on production that have opened the way for the United States and other producers outside OPEC Plus to pump more oil. In addition, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries appear to have an interest in pleasing President Trump, who wants lower gasoline prices for American drivers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
