It’s normal for administrations to see some turnover after a midterm election, especially if the president’s party takes the kind of beating we saw last week. What’s unusual, though, is the number of high-ranking officials who’ve already left the Department of Justice since the midterms. With their departures, an already struggling department will find itself even further under the White House’s influence, even as it becomes more hard-pressed to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
Over the past week, the heads of three of the department’s seven divisions that handle litigation have taken their leave. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday that John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division, had stepped down. He leaves on the division’s plate a mandate to expand domestic terrorism investigations against leftists, harass journalists for the sources of leaks and efforts to use a secretive court to deport noncitizens accused of terrorism.
The upside is that the Justice Department will have even less legal firepower, even as Democrats in Congress staff up and look to recruit top legal talent.
The same day, Blanche also announced the resignation of Harmeet Dhillon as leader of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. According to MS NOW, Dhillon was frustrated at not getting promoted despite having successfully flipped the script on the division’s historic role protecting minority rights.
And Civil Division head Brett Shumate packed his bags Monday, abandoning an office charged with defending the government against a nonstop deluge of lawsuits challenging the administration’s policies.
As of now, Dhillon is the only top staffer of the three who’s already been replaced by a temp: Craig Trainor, previously the assistant secretary for fair