What DOJ Employees Need Most in the Trump Era: One Year Later
One year ago this week, when I was still at DOJ, the New York Times published an op-ed I wrote. I’d been told by people I knew – and people I didn’t – that whatever the incoming administration might bring, I needed to stay in my job because our democracy depended on a strong civil service.
I wrote in the op-ed that this was the wrong message aimed at the wrong audience.
Federal employees already understood the importance of an apolitical, professional civil service perfectly well. We were part of it. And if DOJ employees in particular were going to stay to defend the rule of law, lectures wouldn’t help; they’d need direct support from people on the outside. I offered a variety of ways every American could provide it.
I probably wouldn’t have written the op-ed if I didn’t suffer from glass-quarter-fullism – a chronic condition that’s about twice as serious as glass-half-fullism. When there’s a chance a situation may work out or fall apart, I hang my hat on the latter (e.g., I’ll assume that the ringing in my ears is due to the rapid onset of tinnitus and not the concert I attended the night before).
My dire predictions are more often wrong than right, and usually result in nothing but needless agita. But on rare occasions, they serve me well. My dark prognostication after the election is an example.
When incoming administration officials mused about the civil service, I took them dead seriously – from Elon Musk’s description of federal employees as an “existential threat to our republic,” to Vice President Vance’s plan to “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat,” to OMB Director Russell Vought’s promise to put feds “in trauma.” If anything, I thought they were downplaying what was to come. And because DOJ was the only agency that investigated and prosecuted President Trump, I knew that his retributive intentions would make DOJ employees prime targets.
But not every doomsayer is a fatalist. I try to work out ways to make situations that I think will be bad less bad. That’s why I wrote the op-ed: to offer ways that everyone could support federal employees, so that the general public could make the impending bad situation for public servants less bad.
The “Make Bad Less Bad Doctrine” also drove me to found Justice Connection, through which thousands of DOJ alumni have volunteered to support their colleagues at the department and combat the attacks on the rule of law.
The administration’s assault on DOJ and its workforce has been more devastating than most of my ominous expectations. Now more than ever, we need responsible career employees standing strong at the department – and it’s crucial that Americans outside of government show that they have their backs.
Over the last year, Justice Connection has talked with countless DOJ employees about what they’re experiencing, and what they need. Based on these conversations, I’m offering an updated set of suggestions for how you can help:
Provide direct support to the DOJ employees you know. DOJ employees are everywhere – they’re in all 50 states in all kinds of jobs, and they’re likely in your community. Here are some ways you can offer them support:
Check in often, ask them how they’re doing, and listen – without judgment – to their answers.
Tell them you appreciate their work, and that you understand how DOJ leadership’s actions don’t reflect on them.
Offer to babysit, bring over meals, or otherwise ease daily burdens when demands at work complicate their lives at home.
Volunteer with Justice Connection. Here are a few options:
If you’re a mental health provider, you can join our mental health network (email us at info@thejusticeconnection.org).
If you’re a DOJ alum with an active law license, you can provide pro bono legal assistance to our former colleagues. We’re especially in need of lawyers who can advise on state rules of professional responsibility (email us at alumni@thejusticeconnection.org).
If you’re a DOJ alum – lawyer or not – you can offer informational interviews to current or former employees who need to find new work (email us at alumni@thejusticeconnection.org).
Demand that Congress do its job. Oversight of DOJ is a key role that the Artist Formerly Known as a Coequal Branch of Government has abdicated. After a top DOJ official told career attorneys to say “fuck you” to the courts, the Senate confirmed him as a Third Circuit judge. When DOJ whistleblowers credibly exposed lawlessness at the department, many in Congress impugned their motivations. And in the face of illegal and destabilizing DOJ firings, too many in Congress have shrugged. You can insist that Congress hold this administration accountable by contacting your senators and representative.
Stand up for DOJ’s workforce by speaking out. Sounding the alarm may not feel as safe as it did a year ago, but the stakes are too high to stay silent. When a prosecutor gets fired for refusing to participate in a vindictive prosecution, scream bloody murder on social media. When seasoned FBI agents are sidelined because they investigated cases the president didn’t like, write a letter to the editor of your local paper. When your nephew-in-law (yeah, that guy) whines about the “deep state” at brunch, explain what career DOJ employees actually do: keep our nation secure, protect community safety, enforce environmental and civil rights laws, and fight corruption and fraud.
Put the “comment” back in “notice and comment.” The administration is using the regulatory process to execute some of its most pernicious attacks on federal employees (e.g., a soon-to-be-finalized regulation will strip tens of thousands of federal employees of civil service protections and whistleblower rights). But the government can’t implement regulations without allowing the public to submit comments, which agencies must consider. We encourage everyone to offer comments when the administration proposes regulations that harm federal employees, and we’ll broadcast these opportunities when they arise. (Look out for more about this in an important upcoming Substack post.)
Donate to a group that supports DOJ employees. This isn’t a fundraising post, but it’s always true that the more support Justice Connection receives, the more support we can provide; it’s that simple. We’re the one organization that’s focused on supporting the more than 100,000 employees who are fighting to uphold the rule of law – providing them with free legal representation, mental health assistance, media training, and whistleblowing help. If you’re able to contribute, please do so here.
I stand by my message at the end of the op-ed: “Our country needs a professional and independent civil service. We can’t expect federal employees to save it on their own. That burden will also need to be shouldered by all those Americans who will suffer if it’s destroyed.”
Stacey Young was a Justice Department lawyer from 2006 until January 24, 2025, a week before she launched Justice Connection. She serves as its executive director.
