President Donald Trump's Justice Department is so riddled with controversies, experts are reporting that the cabinet department is in a "full-on meltdown."
"There's a full-on meltdown going on at the DOJ," The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell told former Assistant US Attorney and lawyer Andrew Weissman on Thursday. Weissman replied by pointing out that now that Trump's Republicans lost overwhelmingly in the 2026 midterm elections, "Now reality sets in. People have expectations. So there's a lot to talk about. Okay. DOJ, what do you want to... Shoot. Bring it on."
Longwell then said, " want to talk about the high-profile firings and resignations. We've got Harmeet Dhillon out as the head of the Civil Rights Division; Jason Reding Quiñones — am I saying that right? Yes — the U.S. attorney in Miami who was heading up the grand conspiracy investigation; John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division; and Brett Shumate — pronounced "Shomate," so I pronounced it wrong, but my notes say it's "Shomate" — who's the head of the Civil Division."
She added, "And then this past week, the principal assistant to the deputy attorney general, Akash Singh, who I didn't know about, had a call with all the U.S. attorneys, seemingly threatening their jobs if they're not ready to go to battle with the administration. So what is going on? Is this normal? What's happening?"
Weissman responded, "And by the way, there are some other people who have left also, in quote-unquote lesser positions, but still quite senior positions. I should note that Mr. Quiñones, the U.S. attorney in Florida, is now — I always make this joke that I don't do math in public, but I think he might be the fourth or fifth person to lead the so-called grand conspiracy case who has left. Yeah. Resigned."
Longwell and Weissman are not alone in reporting that many Justice Department workers are fleeing because they fear Trump's actions will force them to engage in illegal conduct. James Sample, a professor at Hofstra University Law School, made a similar point on Wednesday.
"We have seen examples of individuals getting fired or individuals leaving because either they wouldn't pursue and therefore got fired or wouldn't pursue, and therefore were faced with the pressure to resign if they weren't willing to pursue those cases that were crossing the line and were going after retribution," Sample argued.
He went on, "The Lindsey Halligan scenario — you forget that before Lindsey Halligan, there was Eric Siebert declining to engage in that prosecution. Then Lindsey Halligan, with no experience and an unlawful appointment, and then a grand jury failed to indict as well. So, you're right there in that little microcosm, you have all three stages."
Despite these controversies, the Justice Department shows no signs of altering its approach. Indeed, after Democrats won the midterms, they ordered their employees to prepare for "war."
