r/moderatepolitics • u/Interesting_Total_98 • 1d ago

News Article Trump Administration Sees Striking Exodus of Legal Talent

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/us/politics/trump-administration-exodus-of-lawyers.html
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u/JohnnyZoidberg 1d ago

Don't we see articles like this every few months? Trump legal team naturally has a really high turnover.

16

u/onlyonedayatatime 1d ago

This isn’t about the political appointee level attorneys you hear about. This article is about the career service attorneys many of whom have been with the federal government for decades. 10,000 attorneys leaving is pretty staggering.

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u/JohnnyZoidberg 1d ago

Very much so, and it's been going on since Trump took office. That was my point.

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u/onlyonedayatatime 1d ago

My point is that these attorneys aren’t “Trump’s legal team.” Not even remotely.

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

I am in the legal profession and can attest that the turnover for government attorneys (not just DOJ) has been much higher than is normal, based on my 10+ years of practice. 

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u/JohnnyZoidberg 1d ago

thru what timeframe? last 1 year, 5 years, etc?

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

Since January of last year. It’s normal for there to be turnover at the beginning of a new administration, but this was far more extensive than I saw during Biden’s first month, Trump 1’s first month, and Obama 2’a first month (I was not practicing during Obama 1).