Since PresidentDonald Trumpre-took the Oval Office, the Justice Department has been plagued by accusations that itwasn't transparent about its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,and that it has become aweapon for Trump to target his political opponents and critics.
A third major theme at the department in the past 15 months has gotten much less attention, but is no less dramatic: the exodus of thousands of lawyers, including many who had decades of experience at the DOJ.
More than 3,300 attorneys left the Justice Department between Trump's first day back in office and February 2026, according todata from the Office of Personnel Management. Meanwhile, only about 800 attorneys have been hired.
The impact of those exits could turn out to be the most lasting, potentially weakening the Justice Department for many years to come, several former longterm DOJ lawyers who worked across areas told USA TODAY.
"When political leaders come into the department and immediately begin acting like tyrants, and purging the people who know how to run things, that's going to have a really destabilizing effect, and it absolutely has," Stacey Young, who worked as a senior attorney in the Civil Division and later in the Civil Rights Division over 18 years, said.
Young left the DOJ a few days into the new administration, and has since foundedJustice Connection, which supports those who have left and combats what it sees as threats to the rule of law under the Trump administration.
While the Trump administration has beefed up DOJ immigration enforcement, the stream of attorney exits has weakened the department's ability to enforce the law across a range of traditional priorities, including tax enforcement, anti-narcotics efforts, white collar crime, national security, environmental enforcement, and civil rights, former officials told USA TODAY.
DOJ spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre told USA TODAY in a statement that the DOJ has more than 10,000 lawyers committed to restoring public safety and upholding the rule of law, and is now "the most efficient Department of Justice in American history."
"Our country has the lowest murder rate in 125 years, we’ve arrested more than 90 key cartel leaders, and removed millions of deadly doses of fentanyl from our streets – all on top of achieving a record 24 successful rulings at the Supreme Court," Baldassarre said.
"President Trumpwill not waver when lawfully implementing the agenda he was elected on," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement.
Source: Drudge Report
