Internal Justice Department charts reportedly show a dramatic decline in attorneys inside the department's Civil Division while its caseload has surged—leaving fewer government lawyers responsible for considerably more work.
Donald Trump's Justice Department has a manpower problem.
Lawyers have been leaving.
Cases have been piling up.
And internal Justice Department data reportedly shows just how far those two trends have diverged.
Charts obtained by The Hill show the number of attorneys working in important sections of the Justice Department's Civil Division declining substantially during Trump's second administration.
At the same time, the workload those attorneys are expected to handle has increased.
The result is a Justice Department attempting to manage more litigation with fewer experienced lawyers.
And despite an aggressive recruiting effort—including substantial hiring incentives—the department has struggled to replace many of the attorneys who left.
Fewer Lawyers, More Cases
The Civil Division represents the United States in an enormous range of lawsuits.
When someone sues the federal government, Civil Division attorneys are frequently the lawyers responsible for defending it.
That means Trump's enormous expansion of executive power and the resulting wave of lawsuits have created considerable additional work for the department.
Immigration policies have generated litigation.
Federal workforce reductions have generated litigation.
Changes to federal programs have generated litigation.
Executive actions have generated litigation.
And the attorneys defending those policies are increasingly being asked to do it with fewer colleagues.
According to The Hill's reporting on the internal DOJ charts, staffing levels have fallen sharply in several Civil Division offices while caseloads have moved in the opposite direction.
That isn't simply an inconvenience.
Federal litigation has deadlines.
Judges expect government attorneys to appear in court.
Legal briefs still have to be researched and filed.
Cases still have to be prepared.
When the number of lawyers falls while the number of cases rises, the remaining attorneys inherit the difference.
A Wave of Departures
The staffing problem didn't happen overnight.
The Justice Department has experienced significant turnover since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
Some employees were fired.
Others accepted the administration's deferred resignation offers.
Others resigned voluntarily.
Still others left after disagreements with department leadership.
One particularly striking example occurred inside the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section—the unit historically responsible for some of the government's most sensitive political-corruption investigations.
Reuters reported in 2025 that the section had fallen from more than 30 attorneys to just five after resignations and reassignments.
Its authority was also dramatically reduced.
That represented more than a staffing change.
Those departing lawyers took years—and in some cases decades—of institutional knowledge with them.
Replacing a federal prosecutor or experienced government litigator isn't as simple as filling an empty desk.
A newly hired attorney may be highly qualified.
But experience with federal courts, department procedures, complex investigations and institutional practices takes time to develop.
DOJ Is Trying to Hire
The administration isn't ignoring the vacancies.
The Justice Department is actively recruiting attorneys.
Its own employment listings currently contain hundreds of attorney openings across U.S. Attorney's Offices and Justice Department divisions.
The department has also reportedly offered hiring incentives as it attempts to replenish its ranks.
But recruiting attorneys quickly enough to replace experienced lawyers who have departed has proven difficult.
That creates another problem.
The attorneys who remain have to absorb the work while the department searches for replacements.
Stacey Young, founder of the Justice Department alumni organization Justice Connection, described what has happened as a “massive exodus.”
She told The Hill that lawyers remaining inside the department are increasingly overworked and stressed as workloads increase.
Justice Connection is an advocacy organization founded by former DOJ employees and has been sharply critical of the administration's management of the department.
Its assessment therefore represents the view of critics rather than an official DOJ conclusion.
But the staffing numbers themselves demonstrate that substantial turnover has occurred.
The Government Still Has to Show Up in Court
A presidential administration can change policies quickly.
The judicial system doesn't necessarily move at the same speed.
Every major policy challenged in federal court creates work.
Government attorneys have to review the allegations.
They have to gather evidence.
They have to consult with federal agencies.
They have to research precedent.
They have to prepare briefs.
And they have to stand before federal judges and defend the government's position.
The Trump administration has faced an extraordinary amount of litigation over its policies.
That means the administration's lawyers aren't merely replacing employees who departed.
They're doing so while simultaneously defending an unusually large number of consequential government actions.
Experience Can't Be Replaced Overnight
Headcounts also don't tell the entire story.
A Justice Department attorney who spent 15 or 20 years handling complicated federal litigation can't immediately be replaced by a newly hired lawyer.
Institutional knowledge matters.
Experienced attorneys know the department.
They know the courts.
They understand internal procedures.
They know how federal agencies operate.
And senior attorneys supervise younger lawyers who haven't yet developed that experience.
When large numbers of veteran employees leave simultaneously, an organization can lose considerably more capacity than a spreadsheet showing vacant positions suggests.
This is one reason the staffing decline matters beyond simply counting employees.
The question isn't only how many attorneys remain.
It's how much experience walked out with those who left.
A Department Being Remade
The departures are occurring as the Trump administration fundamentally changes the Justice Department's priorities.
Attorney General Todd Blanche's department has redirected resources toward immigration enforcement and other administration priorities.
Some traditional functions have been reduced or reorganized.
The Public Integrity Section was dramatically diminished.
Attorneys have been reassigned.
Longstanding procedures governing politically sensitive investigations have been changed.
The administration argues these changes are necessary to correct what Trump has repeatedly characterized as the previous weaponization of federal law enforcement.
Critics—including numerous former Justice Department officials—argue that the changes have weakened institutional safeguards and driven experienced career employees from government service.
Whatever interpretation one accepts, the transformation itself is measurable.
People left.
Positions became vacant.
Work remained.
And in some divisions, that work increased.
The Numbers Eventually Matter
Governments can reorganize agencies.
Presidents can change priorities.
Political appointees can replace policies established by their predecessors.
But there is one thing organizational charts cannot eliminate:
The work.
Someone still has to prosecute federal crimes.
Someone still has to defend federal agencies.
Someone still has to respond when the government gets sued.
Someone still has to appear before a judge.
And someone still has to meet the deadline when the court says a brief is due Friday morning.
The internal Justice Department charts reportedly obtained by The Hill illustrate the problem in unusually simple terms.
One line is moving down.
The number of lawyers.
Another is moving up.
The amount of work.
Eventually, those two lines collide.