Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (January 28, 2025)— Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, are demanding answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Acting Attorney General James R. McHenry III following reports of sweeping firings and involuntary reassignments of career civil servants at the Department.

“The professionals you summarily dismissed or transferred from components throughout the Justice Department […] are part of an expert, non-political workforce tasked with protecting our national security and public safety. They have been hired and promoted based on their professional merit and excellence. Many of them have decades of experience under their belt and have served under, been promoted by, and received awards from presidential administrations of both major political parties, including President Trump’s first administration. Yet, you appear to have removed them from their offices without regard to their demonstrated competencies, their recognized achievements, or their devoted service to the Department […] By removing them from their positions in this hasty and unprincipled way, you have very likely violated longstanding federal laws,” wrote the Ranking Members.

 

Reports indicate that the Trump Administration has made widespread changes at DOJ within its first week, taking aim at civil servants of all ranks—from senior career employees to law students. The sweeping personnel changes targeting prosecutors and federal agents within days, and in some cases even hours, of the start of the new Administration, without any evaluation of their qualifications, mark a departure from DOJ’s longstanding principles and may be in violation of federal law.

DOJ also summarily rescinded job offers to summer interns and entry-level attorneys hired through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, a 72-year-old recruitment program. Additionally, reports indicate that White House staff is playing a role in these employment decisions and examining career civil servants’ LinkedIn and other social media to ascertain a candidate’s political leanings.

Together, these changes raise significant concerns that the Trump administration is intent on filling the ranks of the DOJ and FBI with career employees selected for their personal loyalty or political favors they have rendered to President Trump rather than their ability to provide essential law enforcement and intelligence services to the Department and to the nation.

Ranking Members Raskin and Connolly requested the Acting Attorney General provide information on all individuals who have been reassigned or fired at DOJ and answer questions on how personal political leanings may have played a role in such decisions, in order to understand the scope, extent, purpose, and legality of his personnel actions throughout the DOJ and ensure that the American public is being served by the most qualified prosecutors, federal agents, and professionals.

Click here to read the letter.