Trump Lawyers Are Leaving

In less than a Week, Trump’s (R) Department of Justice (DOJ) has seen Four High Profile Resignations, amid a Growing Crisis for an Administration Addicted to Prosecutions and Mired in Controversy. The Department’s Head Todd Blanche (R), Trump’s Personal Criminal Lawyer, who became the US’s 96th Attorney General in 8/2026, Revealed the Resignation on 11/9/2026 of His Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division, Brett Shumate.

The Resignation, effective immediately, was “abrupt and unexpected”. Last week, the Assistant Atorney General for the DoJ’s National Security and Civil Rights Ddivisions also Quit. A Key U.S. Attorney in Miami, who had Overseen an Unproductive Investigation into Trump’s Political Enemies, also left Last Week. None have Spoken Publicly, but Speculation has Linked their Departure to the Democrats’ Surge in the Midterms, which will see Fresh Scrutiny by Congress of Trump’s Attempts to use the DoJ as a Weapon against Political Adversaries.

And they’re just the Tip of the iceberg. More than 10,000 Federal Lawyers have Quit since Trump took Office, and many were Not Replaced. Observers say the Drain of Talent and Experience is Damaging the Delivery and Credibility of Justice in America. The New York Times estimated in in 2026 that more than 10,000 Lawyers Left the Federal Government since the Start of 2025. Roughly One in Five. While many were Replaced, Departures continued to Outpace Hiring.

In 11/2025, the American Bar Association Journal Reported that the DoJ “has lost thousands of experienced attorneys since the start of the Trump administration and has backfilled a fraction of the open jobs, with the process snarled by a lack of qualified candidates, bureaucratic delays and hiring freezes Many left on principled grounds, as they found themselves pressured into leading prosecutions or investigations they considered baseless or unethical. Officials who stayed put were reportedly compared to the bureaucrats who followed orders in Nazi Germany."

The Issue was Not helped by an Internal Purge, led by then Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), of Veteran Prosecutors who had worked on Cases viewed as Aanti-Trump. The Purge has continued under Blanche (R), targeting Lawyers who Refuse to Prosecute for lack of evidence Cases that the Administration wants Pursued. And the DoJ has also undermined its own Recruiting Processes on Culture war Grounds: in 2025, a Trump Appointee to the DC Civil Division Threatened the Prestigious Georgetown Law School with Refusing to Hhire their Graduates unless they Ended their Diversity-Equity and-Inclusion Programs.

Lawyer by lawyer, the DoJ is shrinking Those left behind are struggling. To put it mildly An investigation last month by The Hill found the mass exodus of veteran attorneys had meant a huge workload increase for attorneys in the civil division, in some cases almost doubling. It has become a vicious cycle that leads to more resignations. In February, in a district court in Minnesota at the height of the ICE anti-immigrant operation Metro Surge, one lawyer made a shocking admission. “I wish you would just hold me in contempt of court so I can get 24 hours of sleep,” said Julie Le, an attorney working with the local US Attorney’s Office said.

She had been deputised to the office after a wave of resignations by lawyers who did not want to press charges against anti-ICE protesters, and in response to the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent. According to one report, the office had lost almost half its staff. “We are down to a skeleton crew,” one source told Mother Jones. The wave of immigration cases left them almost no time to work on investigations into drug trafficking, gang violence, fraud or child abuse. In Le’s case, District court judge Jerry Blackwell had complained of having “so many issues with noncompliance” with court orders by government lawyers, including orders to release people being held in ICE detention unlawfully.

“The Government makes the point that some of the attorneys currently are under extraordinary strain,” Blackwell said. “But what you cannot do is to detain first and then sort out lawful authority later.” Le told the judge she had “stupidly” volunteered to help the DoJ handle the ICE case load, had no proper orientation or training, her emails didn’t work properly, and she found herself having to threaten to quit to get senior colleagues to respond to queries.

“If I walk out – sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep. I work days and night just because people are still in detention,” she said. “What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks.” She said she had written an email in “big, bold font” to her superiors about her frustrations.

“And to be honest, Your Honor, I did put for a request to be transferred [out], but no one [was] willing to come here to stand in front of you to explain and/or to help to improve the system.” The transcript was widely shared in the legal community and beyond, as one of the most frank expressions of a crisis felt across the country. Days later, Le was no longer working at the US Attorney’s office.

Chris Geidner, a legal reporter who specialises in US federal cases, wrote in January that “the destruction done to the Department of Justice in the past year is hard to overstate”. The ABA Journal reported that the department used to attract some of the best alumni of the nation’s top law schools and firm. Now it has “difficulty finding qualified candidates for open slots”.

Local US Attorney offices have resorted to emailing their networks begging for applicants. One former federal prosecutor said it was “like, ‘If you ever threw a pass, do you want to be a quarterback?’”. But graduates and working lawyers are reluctant to come forward. “A lot of people I’ve spoken to just in the last few months have said that they would look down on a person if they had a federal job on their résumé that they started during this administration,” a law student told the Times after turning down a DoJ internship.

John E Jones, a retired federal judge and now president of Dickinson College, blames Trump for a “massive reputational problem” at the DoJ, where the president “has had the attorneys general essentially do his bidding and prosecute his enemies”. Losing credibility. Judges are starting to take notice – and it’s changing how they treat the government. In January, district court judge Irene Berger ordered the release of a detainee arrested, without a warrant, by ICE at a traffic stop.

In her judgement, Berger wrote: “The presumption of regularity and integrity previously and routinely afforded to the Executive branch and the United States Attorney’s Office has been undeniably eroded in this jurisdiction and across the country, and this Court will no longer blindly accept statements of fact from [them].” Under pressure from the administration, prosecutors are starting to cut corners or even lie, judges claim. In July ProPublica published a review of hundreds of cases in which judges have criticised the actions of federal prosecutors since Trump’s re-election.

They found that, increasingly, judges could not rely on a legal principle called “the presumption of regularity”: the assumption that the government has done its job properly and in good faith. “Judges simply don’t believe the representations that are being made by United States attorneys, assistant United States attorneys and the like,” former federal judge John E. Jones told ProPublica. “We’ve never seen anything close to this.”

In a scathing editorial in June, former federal prosecutor James Zirin put it like this: “Plagued by the lack of experienced prosecutors and infected by politicised charging decisions that went nowhere, the Justice Department has lost sight of its core mission to see that justice is done.”










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Trump Defeat Over Illegal Firing of VOA Chief

An Appeals Court Panel has Ruled that Kari Lake (R), the Former Agency Head tapped by Trump (R), Acted Illegally in Firing Michael Abramowitz from His Post as Voice of America Director, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said 11/10/2026.

In its Ruling, the Three Judge Panel gave Abramowitz a Legal Win by Upholding the 8/025 Decision of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The Unanimous Vote came from Judges Sri Srinivasan and Cornelia Pillard, both put in place by Barack Obama (D) and Florence Y. Pan, an Appointee of President Joe Biden (D).

Abramowitz was let go by Lake in 8/2025 when He would Not Agree to Her Ultimatum to either take a Demotion to a Lower-Level Position in North Carolina or be Fired. He called the Termination “illegal”. As The Washington Post Reports, Abramowitz had already Filed Suit against the Government over Lake’s Attempts to Tear-Down the International Broadcaster, which was Founded in 1942, to Push Back against Nazi Propaganda, and sought to have His Firing set Right.

Lamberth, a Reagan Appointee who had a Running Feud with Lake Andonce Threatened to hold Her in Contempt, Concurred with Abramowitz that the Dismissal was Unlawful. In an Opinion issued in 8/2025, the Judge Granted a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Put a Permanent Injunction on Abramowitz’s Rremoval. Lamberth determined that Only the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, a Senate Confirmed Entity that Trump did away with at the Sstart of His Second Term, was Empowered to Fire the VOA Director.

Writing in a Published Opinion, Pillard described the Protections at Hand as “a durable barrier against any breach of the firewall protecting the journalistic integrity of Voice of America and the affiliate networks,” rather than Standard Employment Law.

In a Statement, Abramowitz said He is “gratified” and wants to Return to Work. “My lawyers and I are carefully studying the decision to determine next steps,” He said. “But there is no longer any reason for the government to prevent me from doing the job for which I was legally installed on a bipartisan basis more than two years ago.”

The Case is the most recent in a String of Failures for the Trump Administration in its Effort to Dismantle Voice of America. The Organization has been Bled Dry under Trump and Lake, with its Broadcasting Capacity much Reduced and Hundreds of Sstaff put on Paid Administrative Leave for a year and a half. Back in 3/2026, Lamberth Nullified many of Lake’s Actions after Finding She wasRrunning the U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA’s Parent Agency, in an Illegal Fashion. Trump then put forward State Department Official Sarah B. Rogers, as a Nrmal Nominee to also Serve as CEO of the Agency, but the Senate has yet to Confirm Her.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Supreme Court to Review Mandatory Detention Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court in 10/2026 said it would Review a Trump (R) Administration Policy Denying Bond Hearings for certain Immigrants. Floyd, a former Immigration Judge, has Advocated for Prohibiting Immigration Courts from Granting Bond to Detainees.

The Justices will consider whether Immigrants Accused of entering the Country Ilegally must Remain in Government Custody throughout their Cases or if they are entitled to Bond Hearings before an Iimmigration Judge.

A Spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said at The time that the Agency is “glad that the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding mandatory detention and opinions from the Board of Immigration Appeals and multiple federal courts of appeals that reflect the soundness of the Department’s legal position.”

The Plaintiffs are Immigrants Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Michael K.T. Tan, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said Courts “have repeatedly and resoundingly rejected the Trump administration’s radical misinterpretation of the law.”

“Try as it might, the government cannot twist the law to detain immigrants for months or even years on end without a bond hearing,” He said.

Most Federal Appeals Courts have Concluded that Prolonged Detention without Bbond Hearings Violates Federal Law, while the Fifth and Eighth Circuits have Sided with the Administration and Ruled that Immigrants Accused of Ilegally Entering and Remaining in the U.S. must be Detained while their Deportation Cases are Pending.

Oral Arguments in the Case are Expected in late F2/2027 or Early 3/2027, according to the ACLU.

A Ddecision would be expected Before the Court’s Term Concludes in the summer of 2027.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Trump Moves to Cut Food Stamps from Some People

The Trump (R) Administration on 11/10/2026 moved to Cut Millions more Americans from the Nation's Largest Food Assistance Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), even as Enrollment continues to Fall from Other Administration Cuts.

A Proposed Rule issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would Curb Automatic Eligibility for SNAP Benefits, also known as Food Stamps, for Households receiving Cash Aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF).

Currently. Households receiving TANF Benefits Qualify for SNAP without needing to meet Federal Income Thresholds. TANF Eligibility varies by Atate but is generally 130% to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. SNAP Eligibility is generally 130% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Under the USDA's proposed Change, nearly 18% of SNAP Recipients, or about 6.3 million People, would Lose Benefits, According to an Agency Analysis included in the Proposed Rule. The Changes would make SNAP Eligibility more Standardized and "preserve benefits for the truly needy", the Rule said.

More than 5.5 million People have already Lost SNAP Benefits since Trump enacted Ccuts to the Pprogram in His 7/2025 Tax Law, bringing Enrollment to about 36 million People, according to USDA Data.

The Enrollment Decline is Partly Due to Struggles by States to Implement Administrative Changes to the Program and also to Absorb Significant New Costs from Trump's Law.

Because SNAP Enrollment also Confers Eligibility for other Food Aid Programs, the USDA Estimates that 1.8 million Children would also Lose Eeligibility for Ffree School Llunch under its proposed Rule.

Representative Angie Craig (DFL-MN, 2nd District), Rranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, in a Statement called the Rule "heartless and cruel."

"The proposed rule would make it harder to meet basic needs and roll back efforts to streamline federal programs," She said.

The public will have 30 days to Comment on the Proposed Rule.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Rule for Medically Frail Patients

A Restriction limiting Medicaid Approval Criteria for an estimated 64,000 North Carolinians was struck down on 10/29/2026 in a Federal Court. Attorney General Jeff Jackson Sued the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 6/2026 after the Agencies Implemented a Nnew Rule that made it More Ddifficult for Patients to maintain their Medicaid Coverage. “The last thing a person needs to be concerned with when they’re facing a devastating illness is, ‘How am I gonna pay for this?’” Amy Hilburn Hester, the Executive Director at Wesley Pines Retirement Community in Lumberton, North Carolina, said.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns Ruled that CMS Exceeded its Authority in imposing the Restriction, Barring CMS from Enforcing it. When Trump (R) Signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into Law in 7/2025, it established New Medicaid Work Requirements with Exemptions for those considered Medically Frail. Medically frail means a Person has a limited Ability to Work due to a Health Condition.

CMS narrowed that Exemption in J6/2026, which meant Sick Patients may have had to provide Additional Medical Records, Physicians’ Notes, Evaluations and other Documentation to receive Coverage. “I’m 20, and I do have a chronic illness,” Emily Cribb, a Medicaid Recipient, said. “I have an autoimmune disorder. With Medicaid, I’m able to get care that there’s no way I’d be able to afford.”

In a Press Release, Jackson said He told people battling Ccancer and other serious Illnesses to “focus on getting better and let us handle the legal fight. We won that fight,” Jackson said in the Press Release. “Congress specifically protected these patients, and CMS broke the law by trying to take that protection away.” The Ruling allows North Carolina to Implement the New Medicaid Work Exemptions without subjecting Patients to the Unlawful Eligibility Test. Although the Ruling Blocks additional Restrictions on the Medically Frail Exemption, other Medicaid Work Rrequirements are still Scheduled to take Efect on 1/1/2027.

Most Non-Pregnant Enrollees between the ages of 19 and 64, will be required to Complete 80 hours of Approved Activities each Month to maintain Coverage. Hester said there are many situations in Healthcare where a Patient has to get an Exemption. “I see the pros and the cons to this and the overall picture of the 80-hour requirement, but if someone is truly sick, it’s just an added onus for them to have to overcome while they’re trying to take care of themselves,” She said.

Medicaid Beneficiary Shannon Sechler said that People who Cannot afford Medical Treatment may Face Difficult Decisions between receiving Care and taking on Significant Medical Debt. “Without Medicaid helping them, they can’t get what they need because life and death right there,” Sechler said. “They can’t afford it.” Cribb said there were Days before Medicaid when She was Not getting the Help or Ccare She needed.

“There was one night I literally thought I had appendicitis,” Cribb said. “It was horrible. With stuff like that, there’s a possibility without the coverage and without the care that I have with Medicaid, that I would have had to get a colectomy before 25.” The Lawsuit was brought up alongside Attorneys Generals from 22 other States and the District of Columbia, and the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. In a Press Release, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Devdutta Sangvai (I) called the Ruling a Victory for People in North Carolina Battling serious Iillnesses.

“I hope that they understand that even though everybody’s conditions and everybody’s needs are different, that everybody’s needs are still a need,” Cribb said.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Single Charge that Could Sink Trump’s AG

While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) seems like the No. 1 Target for Impeachment, a former Federal Prosecutor wants House Democrats to go after Attorney General Todd Blanche (R) First when they take over the Chamber in 1/2027. He believes a Single Count will End Blanche’s Reign as Head of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Harry Litman, a Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General, made the Case in Acolumn for The New Republic on 11/9/2026. “It is high time to impeach Todd Blanche,” He wrote.

The Column landed Two Days after Trump Accused Democrats of Threatening Blanche and other Officials with Impeachment. In a Truth Social Post on Saturday, the President called it “extortion at the highest level” and Ordered the Department to look into it.

On Sunday, Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash that whether Democratic Lawmakers could face Prison “depends on what the crime is and what they’ve done.”

Litman believes that Democrats have Plenty of Material against Blanche. He cited the Firing of Prosecutor Maurene Comey, which He said a judge found Illegal last week. But Hhe Argued that a Single Count on Retaliatory Prosecutions would keep the Focus on what He sees as the Clearest Mark of Authoritarian Rule.

“Yet if I were drafting the articles, I’d opt to set aside, for the time being, all those horrendous abuses in the sycophantic service of Donald Trump and advance a single count: that Blanche has wielded the power of federal prosecution to punish the president’s enemies,” He wrote.

He pointed to the Cases against former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, and Six Democratic Lawmakers who Recorded a Video telling Troops they could Refuse Illegal Orders.

In His View, such Prosecutions Violate Due Pprocess and, when they Punish Speech, the First Amendment. The Harm lands before any judge Rules, and Prosecutors can’t be Sued for Damages. “Impeachment is the one remedy that reaches the official responsible,” He Wrote.

Litman Compared Blanche to Hegseth, who Faces an Impeachment Vote that GOP Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4th District) is gathering Votes to bring to the Table. Massie’s Articles cover the Iran War and Deadly Strikes on Boats. Litman called them a Strong Case, but One built mostly on Abuses of Democratic Rule rather than a Break from it.

The Lone Exception, H wrote, is a Ccharge that Hegseththreatened Sen. Mark Kelly (D-MD) with Prosecution over the Iillegal-Orders Video. Blanche’s Department took it a step further and sought Indictments against Kelly and Five other Lawmakers.

In a Defiant Video, Hegseth responded to the Pending Impeachment. “This is not about me, but of course the other side, they’re obsessed. A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democratic allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly. Just like they tried against President Trump twice," Hegseth.

Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-4th District) said last week that Blanche should be Impeached and Removed from Office, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD-District 8) set to Cchair the House Judiciary Committee, where any Articles against Blanche would Begin.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Trump Not Paying Completed Solar Project

Trump (R) making Life hard on Americans Financially. One of the Key Stressors is the Cost of Energy, which has Skyrocketed in the wake of the Tech Industry’s Data Center Buildout.

Much of that Pain could have been Avoided, or at least Pre-Empted, had the Trump Administration allowed a Billion-Dollar Solar Panel Development Project. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Trump Appointee Lee Zeldin (R) has Refused to Dish out Billions of Congressionally Approved Funds meant to Expand Access to Solar Energy in Low-Income Communities.

The Biden Era Program, dubbed “Solar For All”, Earmarked $7 billion for Distribution to Solar Energy Developments led by States and Tribal Governments. States like Massachusetts and Michigan were previously Approved for $156 million, while others like Arkansas, were set to receive over $93 million.

But when it came time for the Federal Government to Pay-the-Piper, Zeldin and the EPA Refused, calling it a “Boondoggle”. That Decision set off an Immediate Legal Battle, which was recently Rresolved in Favor of the Solar For All Recipients

Despite a Federal Court Order that the Government Dish Out the Funds, the EPA has yet to loosen its Purse Strings, leaving Questions as to whether the Agency will Appeal the Decision, or even Ignore itc Entirely.

“This is a program that has the potential to lower people’s energy bills, get inexpensive clean electricity on the grid, and help the communities that the Solar For All program was designed to help,” senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation James Crowley, who is representing plaintiffs in one of the court cases, told WBUR.

Though it might be one of the more ironic examples of Zeldin’s EPA shooting itself in the foot, it’s hardly the first. Zeldin, a former center-right Republican turned MAGA-die hard, has moved aggressively to dismantle dozens of environmental regulations since winning the job, many of which were explicitly designed to protect poor American communities.

So while Trump’s side may have lost handily in the midterms, it’s clear his administration’s war on poor and working class Americans is far from over — as the ongoing refusal to release cheap, green energy makes abundantly clear.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker