Trump Justice Department exodus hinders prosecutions, ex-officials say

Source: USA Today

Updated April 19, 2026, 3:05 a.m. ET


Since President Donald Trump re-took the Oval Office, the Justice Department has been plagued by accusations that it wasn't transparent about its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and that it has become a weapon 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 to data 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 founded Justice Connection, which supports those who have left and combats what it sees as threats to the rule of law under the Trump administration.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/19/doj-exodus-lawyers-trump/89401004007/