Justice Connection today released a letter signed by almost 300 recent career Justice Department employees urgently calling on all Americans to fight for the department before it’s too late.
The letter comes a day before Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee – her first appearance before Congress since her confirmation – and days after the end of the Deferred Resignation Program, when approximately 4,500 employees were officially separated from the department.
Many of them are now willing to publicly sound the alarm about the administration’s degradation of the Justice Department’s vital work and its assault on the public servants who do it.
Each signature is from a career employee who left the department since January – either voluntarily or involuntarily – because of actions taken by this administration. They include prosecutors, special agents, intelligence analysts, immigration judges, grant managers, and more. Each faithfully carried out their duties, regardless of who occupied the White House – until they no longer could.
“The backbone of the Justice Department is the career workforce, and this administration has been driving employees out in droves,” said Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection. “For decades, the guiding tenet for those working at the department was to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons. Many believe that’s no longer possible. They’re being asked to put loyalty to the President over the Constitution, the rule of law, and their professional ethical obligations. We’re seeing the erosion of the Justice Department’s fabric and integrity at an alarming pace. Our democratic system cannot survive without the primary institution that enforces the law.”
The exodus of career employees continues, and as they have seen their work on behalf of the American people cut short by the current administration’s actions, they have shared their concerns and pride in the Justice Department they knew through departing messages sent to their colleagues and shared online.
Justice Connection has compiled some of those departing words in one place to be memorialized on its website.
In today’s letter, the former employees call on the DOJ’s current leaders to reverse course, on fellow alumni to sound the alarm and support their colleagues still at the department, and on Congress to exercise its oversight responsibility more vigorously.
Finally, they call on all Americans – whose safety, prosperity, and rights depend on a strong Justice Department – to speak out against its destruction.
Justice Connection is a network of Justice Department alumni mobilizing to support DOJ’s apolitical workforce and the democratic norms that protect us all. You can follow us on Bluesky, X, and LinkedIn.
