US justice department asks civil rights division attorneys to stay after mass exits

Justice department officials have asked civil rights division attorneys to reconsider their decision to leave the department in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign that the agency may have been caught off-guard by the wave of personnel leaving.

Officials have also asked attorneys, including career managers, who were involuntarily detailed to low-level offices last month, if they would consider returning to their sections to handle civil rights work, the people said. The attorneys were removed in late April in what was widely understood as an effort to force them to accept a paid offer to leave the department.

Leadership had also encouraged employees to accept the paid offer to leave. As a 28 April deadline approached for accepting the paid leave offer, Michael Gates, a political appointee in the civil rights division, told section chiefs there would be a “tightening of the belt” moving forward, a person familiar with the matter said.

More than 250 civil rights division attorneys have left since January or are planning to leave, an approximate 70% reduction in the division’s personnel.

It’s unclear how many attorneys were asked to stay and how many, if any, accepted. The Guardian has confirmed that the request was made at least of attorneys in the educational opportunities section, which enforces anti-discrimination law in schools. Many of the Trump administration’s priorities, including challenging DEI programs, investigating allegations of anti-semitism on campuses, and limiting the rights of transgender people fall under the purview of the section.

Also uncertain is how many lawyers were asked to consider returning to their sections, but some have accepted and returned, according to the people familiar, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

An email also went out on Monday asking attorneys in the housing and civil enforcement section to volunteer in the sections enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws in voting and employment, according a person who had seen the message and described it to the Guardian. If not enough people volunteer, the email said three people would be assigned.

While justice department leadership has cheered departures from the civil rights division, the recent requests suggest the agency may be scrambling to find attorneys to work on the matters the Trump administration wants to prioritize, including investigations into allegations of antisemitism on college campuses, protecting white people from discrimination, and limiting the rights of transgender people. The new missions are a radical departure from the longstanding focus of the civil rights division, which started in 1957 to enforce federal civil rights laws to protect minorities and marginalized groups.

“In addition to treating the civil rights division staff with complete disrespect, they’re also utterly incompetent,” said Stacey Young, who started Justice Connection, a group for department alumni, earlier this year after quitting the agency. “They drove people out and only after the fact seem to have realized that that was a terrible idea.”

The justice department did not return a request for comment.

Harmeet Dhillon, a Donald Trump ally who leads the civil rights division, has celebrated the departures. “Over 100 attorneys decided that they’d rather not do what their job requires them to do, and I think that’s fine,” she said in a 26 April interview on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s podcast. She also has said she has “more applicants than I can possibly hire right now”.

Young said that justice department job postings must be publicly advertised and that the department currently had none posted for the civil rights division. “Where are these applicants coming from?” she said.