It is an enormous problem for the Justice Department that, between politically motivated purges and widespread resignations, it finds itself noticeably short on attorneys. In fact, there are real practical consequences to the hollowing out of the DOJ, as prosecutors with increasing frequency are forced to seek delays in cases, simply because they lack enough lawyers to handle the disputes.
But making matters even worse is the fact that the flipside is also true: The Justice Department hasn’t just lost or ousted too many attorneys — it’s also struggling to replace them. Bloomberg Law reported:
The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent and to prevent current lawyers from leaving: offering signing and retention bonuses throughout the Civil Division.
New vacancy postings show signing bonuses of $25,000 are newly available to staff offices investigating youth transgender treatments and litigating the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
The same report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that the DOJ’s civil division recently informed its attorneys that they’re poised to receive a new “retention incentive allowance” — in effect, paying them extra to stick around.
“The financial enticements are an apparent first” for federal law enforcement, Bloomberg Law reported.
After this report was published, I heard from some lawyers who were absolutely amazed to learn that conditions are this bad at the DOJ. Bradley P. Moss, a prominent attorney in Washington, D.C., wrote via Bluesky, “When I came out of law school in 2006, DOJ’s prestige was such that liberal and conservative graduates alike would have gladly stepped over their friends’ dead bodies to get a position there. Trump has ruined it now to the point [the department is] having to bribe new graduates to apply.”
In other words, the fact Main Justice has resorted to signing bonuses and retention incentives is profoundly embarrassing for the institution. These developments make it painfully clear that some of the most important and sought-after jobs in American law have become, for all intents and purposes, positions attorneys simply do not want.
What’s more, it’s important to appreciate why, exactly, the Justice Department has been forced to rely on these humiliating tactics, because whether or not administration officials are prepared to admit it, there’s no great mystery.
We are, after all, talking about a DOJ that fires lawyers who prioritize the law over political considerations. It’s pursuing absurd and politically motivated cases against Trump’s perceived political enemies. It’s losing high-profile cases that never should have been brought. It’s dropping criminal cases because of the White House’s anti-immigrant obsession.
The White House has usurped control and has set the department’s credibility on fire. The DOJ is acting like Trump’s personal law firm, as key personnel have been redirected from their core responsibilities to pursue the president’s pet endeavors. It’s been weaponized to an almost cartoonish degree, even as leaderless U.S. attorney’s offices confront “crisis” conditions.
As recently as this week, the DOJ had to apologize to a federal judge after the administration pushed false information about her, which came as many federal judges have conceded they can no longer trust claims from the department’s lawyers.
The question isn’t why lawyers are refusing even to apply for jobs that used to be among the most prestigious in the profession; the question is how long it will take to restore the Justice Department to what it was before Trump and his team decided to corrupt it.
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