ORDER IN THE COURT

Federal Lawyers Are Fleeing Trump Administration in Droves

There’s been an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since January 2025.

An alarming new report reveals that one in five lawyers working for the federal government has left their job since the start of the second Trump administration. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told the New York Times that he hired 22 lawyers from across the federal government in the past year and said his new hires were leaving because they “want no part” in Trump’s government. “That’s translating directly to people saying, ‘I want to be part of organizations that actually operate with integrity, that people want to be a part of, that people feel good about doing the right thing,’” he told the Times. Even conservative law students are unsure about signing up with Trump. “A lot of people my age are asking, ‘Is it worth getting a job, and will that help career-wise — having one year of Trump administration experience on your résumé?’” one said. The Justice Department, which employs more than a quarter of all government lawyers, saw the largest decline in raw numbers, according to the Times, but other departments, including the Department of Education, lost a greater share. Another law student who declined a D.O.J. summer internship said the department has a bad reputation among his peers. “Some people have explicitly said they would see a person willing to go to work at this D.O.J. as somebody they couldn’t trust,” he said.