12-03-2025
Trump's Justice Department shakeup hits bankruptcy watchdog
March 11 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's purge of government employees has hit the Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog, with the firing of the director of the Office of the U.S. Trustee.
Tara Twomey was removed from her position on Friday, along with other senior DOJ officials, opens new tab, including the head of a task force that combats drugs and organized crime and officials who handled presidential pardon and public records requests. Twomey was appointed to the position in February 2023 by then-attorney general Merrick Garland.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a former bankruptcy law professor, said that Twomey was a public servant "who cared deeply about safeguarding families and served with great integrity."
"President Trump's decision to fire our nation's bankruptcy watchdog will leave families in financial crisis unprotected from abuse and allow giant companies to cheat the system and skirt accountability," Warren said in a statement.
The Office of the U.S. Trustee is tasked with promoting integrity and efficiency in U.S. bankruptcy cases, working to ensure that rules are followed and that bankruptcy courts work for the benefit of debtors, creditors and the public.
That work can often be administrative, such as appointing official committees to represent creditors who are most at risk in bankruptcy. But the office sometimes takes on a major role — its objections to Purdue Pharma's proposed settlement of opioid lawsuits resulted in a Supreme Court ruling that re-set the boundaries of how mass tort cases are handled in bankruptcy.
The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. Twomey did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The job is seen as relatively non-partisan, and Twomey had a reputation of being 'exceedingly competent,' according to Anthony Casey, a bankruptcy expert who teaches law at the University of Chicago.
'I think the firing is very troubling,' Casey said. 'There is nothing normal about it.'
Twomey's predecessor, Cliff White, held the job for 17 years, working under Republican presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, in his first term; as well as under Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
White said the position was "less political" than others within the government, and the bankruptcy watchdog's role did not change dramatically from administration to administration.
Twomey's firing comes amid other Trump administration moves to remove or sideline career Justice Department officials, who typically keep their positions across presidential administrations.
Twomey was a member of the senior executive service, a group of civil servants whose job protections Trump has tried to limit. One of Trump's first official acts as president was to issue a memorandum, opens new tab to 'restore integrity' to the senior executive service, saying that the 'power to remove subordinates' was a core part of his authority as president.
Before taking her position at the office of the U.S. Trustee, Twomey had more than 20 years of experience working on bankruptcy and consumer credit issues. She served as executive director of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center, and worked as an attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.
