A sweeping year of firings, reassignments and departures has remade the U.S. Department of Justice, removing scores of career lawyers and agents and draining institutional knowledge at a time when prosecutors face some of the most consequential cases in recent memory. Justice Connection, a network of former Justice Department employees, estimates more than 230 lawyers, agents and other staff were fired during the past year and that more than 6,400 employees left the department by the end of 2025; Justice Connection puts the department’s total workforce at roughly 108,000 employees at year-end. Critics counter that the pattern amounts to a purge that undermines norms designed to keep career prosecutors insulated from politics. Legal scholars and former officials say rebuilding institutional trust will take time, clearer safeguards for career officers and a recommitment to norms that keep prosecutions insulated from political swings. Without those steps, the personnel upheaval may have lasting effects on the department’s ability to enforce the law impartially.

Source: ABC News January 16, 2026 14:00 UTC