US: Two-thirds of Justice Department unit quits amid Trump’s legal battles

Nearly two-thirds of the US Justice Department unit responsible for defending Trump administration policies in court has either quit or announced plans to leave since Donald Trump returned to office in November.

Out of about 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch, 69 have resigned or plan to, according to a list reviewed by Reuters and compiled by former DOJ attorneys.

Reuters confirmed all but four names using court records and LinkedIn profiles.

Seven people familiar with the situation — including four former branch lawyers — said the exodus is due to overwhelming workloads, legal disagreements, and fears of crossing ethical lines.

“Many of these people came to work at Federal Programs to defend aspects of our constitutional system,” said one lawyer who left during Trump’s second term. “How could they participate in the project of tearing it down?”

Critics say the Trump administration is overstepping executive powers and targeting perceived enemies.

The White House has defended its actions and dismissed concerns from former staff.

“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,” said spokesperson Harrison Fields.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency is handling an “unprecedented number of lawsuits” and has won several cases at the Supreme Court.

The spokesperson did not comment on morale or staff departures.

While some turnover is normal between administrations, former DOJ lawyers say this wave is much larger than during Trump’s first term or President Biden’s.

At least 10 of the unit’s 23 supervisors — experienced attorneys who have served across different administrations — are among those departing, two sources said.

A DOJ spokesperson said the department is hiring to return to staffing levels seen under Biden but did not give specifics.

The Federal Programs Branch is critical to the Trump administration’s legal efforts.

It is defending controversial moves such as restricting birthright citizenship, cutting $2.5 billion in funding to Harvard University, and supporting policies from the Department of Government Efficiency, once led by Elon Musk.

“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 DOJ Civil Division under 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.”

To respond, the DOJ has temporarily reassigned more than a dozen lawyers from other divisions and made the unit exempt from a federal hiring freeze.

About 15 political appointees have also been brought in — a much higher number than usual.

Many of them have histories of defending conservative causes.

“They have to be willing to advocate on behalf of their clients and not fear the political fallout,” said Mike Davis, head of the pro-Trump Article III Project.

The unit is expected to take a lead role in applying a recent Supreme Court decision that limits judges’ power to block federal policies nationwide.

Lawyers are also fighting to stop class-action lawsuits against Trump’s birthright citizenship order.

A judge approved one such nationwide class last week.

Four former DOJ attorneys said some lawyers left over disagreements with policy, but many career staff believed in defending the government regardless of party — until the Trump administration.

They said some policies appeared unconstitutional or were enacted without proper legal steps.

They also said they were often given little information about the policies they had to defend in court.

In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned DOJ lawyers that they could be disciplined if they didn’t fully support the administration’s agenda.

The memo said career lawyers must not “substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.”

Concerns grew after Erez Reuveni, a supervisor in another DOJ unit, was fired for allegedly not forcefully defending the administration’s case in a wrongful deportation.

He filed a whistleblower complaint claiming he was pressured to make false legal arguments.

DOJ leaders denied the claims, saying he was disgruntled.

Senior official Emil Bove told Congress he “never advised defying courts.”

Several DOJ lawyers were also uncomfortable defending Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms.

Judges ruled that all four orders were unconstitutional.

Despite the rulings, the administration plans to appeal at least one of the cases.

(Reuters)

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