Justice Department Lawyers Flee in Droves Rather Than Defend Trump

There’s been a mass exodus at the DOJ’s Federal Programs Branch—a unit specifically tasked with defending Trump’s most aggressive policies in court.

Of the 110 lawyers at the Federal Programs Branch, 69 have either already quit or announced that they’re quitting since Trump won in November, according to Reuters. Many of them left because they felt overwhelmed by the workload (they’re fighting an “unprecedented number of lawsuits,” one DOJ spokesperson said). Others felt ideologically compromised by the positions the administration was forcing them to defend, like the end of birthright citizenship, massive DOGE cuts from Elon Musk, or the countless extrajudicial deportations carried out by ICE.

“Many of these people came to work at Federal Programs to defend aspects of our constitutional system,” one of the outgoing lawyers told Reuters. “How could they participate in the project of tearing it down?”

The Federal Programs Branch plays a crucial role in pushing Trump’s agenda forward, and the Justice Department is working actively to refill the positions with individuals more inclined to mindlessly carry out the president’s will, no matter how blatantly unconstitutional.