Trump removes longtime Justice Department staff as promised


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In a significant development at the Justice Department, former President Donald Trump has initiated the removal of career employees, marking the beginning of his promised administrative state purge.

This action is expected to extend across other federal agencies in the near future.

“We will demolish the ‘deep state.’ We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news,” Trump vowed in Windham, New Hampshire, in 2023.

The dismissals have already caused ripples among administrative officials.

“My career Senior Executive Service colleagues and I are shocked and severely disappointed in the decision to remove us from our positions without notice or cause,” a DOJ official Alder Reid told NBC News. “We have dedicated our careers to upholding the rule of law, regardless of the administration. Our continued pursuit of justice will not be diminished.”

The Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review witnessed the unexpected termination of four senior officials, as reported by NBC News. These included Chief Immigration Judge Sheila McNulty, Acting Director Mary Cheng, General Counsel Jill Anderson, and Policy Head Lauren Alder Reid, all career civil servants rather than political appointees.

The Associated Press revealed additional personnel changes, with veteran officials like Bruce Swartz, who headed the department’s international affairs office, and George Toscas from the national security division being reassigned. These changes, affecting approximately 20 officials, represent an unusual departure from traditional practices where career lawyers typically retain their positions across different administrations.

The administrative state has faced criticism for previous controversial actions. A notable example occurred in 2020 when 51 intelligence officials signed a letter suggesting Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation, a claim later proved false as the FBI had possession of the actual device. The story, reportedly orchestrated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was used by President Biden during a presidential debate.

Before leaving office, Trump had implemented an executive order creating Schedule F classification for federal employees to enhance accountability. While President Biden reversed this order in 2021, Trump could reinstate it upon returning to office, potentially transforming the federal bureaucracy significantly.

As Axios previously noted about the executive order’s potential impact: “It would effectively upend the modern civil service, triggering a shock wave across the bureaucracy.”