Almost two thirds of the Unit of the United States Department of Justice responsible for defending the policies of the Trump administration in the Court have resigned or announced plans to leave since Donald Trump returned to office in November.
Of about 110 lawyers at the federal programs branch, 69 have resigned or planned, according to a list reviewed by Reuters and compiled by former DJ lawyers.
Reuters confirmed all but four names using judicial records and LinkedIn profiles.
Seven people familiar with the situation, including four former lawyers of the branch, said the exodus is due to overwhelming workloads, legal disagreements and fears of crossing ethical lines.
“Many of these people came to work in federal programs to defend aspects of our constitutional system,” said a lawyer who went during Trump's second mandate. “How could they participate in the demolition project?”
Critics say the Trump administration is exceeding the executive powers and pointing to perceived enemies.
The White House has defended its actions and dismissed the concerns of the previous staff.
“Any holy career bureaucrat who expresses false outrage due to the president's policies while sitting unstable during the range weapon by the previous administration has no reasons to rely,” said spokesman Harrison Fields.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the agency is handling a “number of unprecedented demands” and has won several cases in the Supreme Court.
The spokesman did not comment on the morals or personnel exits.
While any rotation is normal among the administrations, the former lawyers of the Department of Justice say that this wave is much larger than during Trump's first mandate or President Biden.
At least 10 of the 23 unit supervisors, experienced lawyers who have served in different administrations, are among those who start, two sources said.
A DOJ spokesman said the department is hiring to return to personnel levels seen under Biden, but did not give details.
The branch of federal programs is essential for the legal efforts of the Trump administration.
It is defending controversial movements, such as restricting the citizenship of birth law, reducing $ 2.5 billion in funds for Harvard University and supporting the policies of the government efficiency department, once directed by Elon Musk.
“We have never had an administration that pushes the legal envelope so fast, so aggressively and in a wide range of government policies and programs,” said Peter Keisler, who directed the civil division of the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush.
“The demands intensify at the same time that the ranks of the lawyers there to defend these cases are being dramatically thinned.”
To respond, the Department of Justice has temporarily reassigned to more than a dozen lawyers from other divisions and caused the unit to be exempt from a federal contracting freezing.
They have also brought about 15 named politicians, a much higher number than usual.
Many of them have stories of defending conservative causes.
“They have to be willing to advocate their clients and not fear political consequences,” said Mike Davis, head of the project of article III Pro-Trump.
The unit is expected to assume a main role in the application of a recent decision of the Supreme Court that limits the power of the judges to block federal policies throughout the country.
The lawyers are also fighting to stop class action demands against Trump's Birth citizenship order.
A judge approved one of those classes nationwide last week.
Four former lawyers of the Department of Justice said some lawyers left disagreements with politics, but many career employees believed in defending the government regardless of the party, to the Trump administration.
They said that some policies seemed unconstitutional or were promulgated without the right legal steps.
They also said that they were often given little information about the policies they had to defend in court.
In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned the DAJ lawyers that they could be disciplined if they did not completely support the administration agenda.
The memorandum said that career lawyers should not “replace personal political opinions or judgments that prevailed in the elections.”
The concerns grew after Erez Reuveni, a supervisor in another unit of the Department of Justice, was supposed to defend strongly the case of the administration in an unfair deportation.
He filed a complaint complaint claiming that he was pressed to make false legal arguments.
The leaders of the DOJ denied the statements, saying that it was unhappy.
The senior official Emil Bove told Congress that “he never advised to challenge the courts.”
Several lawyers from the Department of Justice were also uncomfortable defending Trump's executive orders aimed at law firms.
The judges ruled that the four orders were unconstitutional.
Despite decisions, the administration plans to appeal at least one of the cases.
(Reuters)
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