The Justice Department is assembling a team of lawyers prepared to defend the most controversial elements of the agenda of President Donald Trump in court, a report said on Monday.
As part of the effort, the department has dismissed career attorneys considered obstacles and brought in dozens of political appointees committed to advancing the president’s priorities, The Washington Post noted without clarifying that every president brings in staffers who are considered being “loyal” or on-board with the commander-in-chief’s political objectives.
“The new hires are already appearing on behalf of the government to defend Trump’s efforts to remake immigration policy and the federal workforce and to expand the powers of the presidency,” the Post report said. “They sometimes sit in front of judges alone, without the cadre of veteran attorneys who typically show up for big cases.”
The outlet did point out that the Justice Department is hiring some experienced attorneys with prestigious resumes.
“Some have prestigious conservative credentials, clerking for Supreme Court justices and top federal judges, according to a review of the new hires’ professional bios posted on LinkedIn,” said the report. “Others are fresh out of law school, taking on influential positions. Many honed their legal skills working for conservative state attorneys general during the Biden administration.”
The hires are part of the Trump administration’s broader push to diminish the influence of career staff across the executive branch and replace them with personnel aligned with the president’s ideological vision. The effort, detailed through public statements, executive orders, and interviews with current and former Justice Department officials—many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity—reflects a deliberate strategy to reshape the federal workforce in accordance with Trump’s agenda, the Post reported.
The outlet then appeared to justify the moves, if in an off-handed manner.
“Meanwhile, many longtime attorneys are fleeing in frustration with Trump’s policies and a new culture within the department that does not permit dissent, some of the current and former agency officials said,” the Post reported.
‘Dissent’ during Trump’s first term turned into outright hostility to his vision and policies, leading to pushback within DOJ ranks. In addition, the pushback also took the form of false allegations — ‘Russian collusion,’ for instance — and bogus investigations by the FBI and elements of the DOJ that also sidetracked the president and his agenda.
The Post further stated that this time, Trump and his appointees aim to align staff with his agenda and prepare them to execute his vision.
“Trump has issued an executive order calling for many longtime senior career staff positions that are considered ‘policy-influencing’ to be flipped to political appointments,” the Post reported. “That could allow him and his allies to install loyalists in key positions without going through the hiring process required for staffers in the civil service.”
Justice Department spokesman Gates McGavick said in a statement: “Attorney General Bondi’s Department of Justice is helping execute the agenda President Trump ran and won on: arresting and prosecuting criminals, seizing deadly drugs, ending the weaponization of justice, and protecting the authority of the executive branch from judicial overreach.”
In December, USA Today published a story noting that Biden was attempting to “Trump-proof” government — and his legacy — in the months before then-Vice President Kamala Harris was trounced.
“As he prepares to leave office, Biden is looking to cement a legacy of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
“And he is challenging the very people who have opposed his agenda ‒ Republican lawmakers ‒ to help preserve the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a centerpiece of Biden’s economic agenda. The outgoing president is trying the guard the law that unleashed billions in financial incentives aimed at spurring the construction of factories that produce clean-energy products,” the report added.
“It’s one of several far-reaching Biden-era laws and policies that President-elect Donald Trump has promised to unravel in his second term when Republicans gain full control of Congress in addition to the White House,” the report added.