Legal talent leaving Trump administration in droves
President Donald Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has resulted in a departure of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, leaving some federal agencies trying to attract new attorneys. (Image from Shutterstock)
President Donald Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has resulted in a departure of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, leaving some federal agencies trying to attract new attorneys.
About one in five lawyers who worked in the federal government at the end of 2024 left by March of this year, according to a story by the New York Times. The departure far exceeds the normal amount of retirements and turnover in the federal workforce. Last year, there were deep staffing cuts, as well as resignations.
Although federal agencies hired about 3,200 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, departures still outpaced hiring, according to the New York Times. Lawyers also exited the government at a faster rate than turnover in the overall work force.
The Department of Justice, which employs more than a quarter of all government lawyers, had the steepest decline in raw numbers. But other agencies, including the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, lost an even greater share of its attorneys, according to the New York Times.
The mass departures depict how quickly Trump has eroded the image of the federal government as the gold standard for lawyers seeking public service roles. Instead, many lawyers looking for public service work are heading to the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and nonprofits that are challenging administration policies in the courts, according to the New York Times.
See also:
Thousands of federal lawyers left their jobs by choice or by force in 2025
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
