DOJ to Hire Like-Minded New Attorneys to Become Federal Prosecutors

The U.S. Department of Justice has suspended a long-standing policy requiring newly hired federal prosecutors to have at least one year of legal practice experience, a move that comes as the department continues working through major staffing challenges during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The change allows U.S. attorney’s offices to recruit prosecutors more directly from law school, provided applicants meet other requirements, including holding a law degree, passing the bar, and being U.S. citizens.

According to the American Bar Association, the number of attorneys working at the Justice Department has declined from roughly 10,000 in 2024.

Updated figures have not been publicly released, but roughly 5,500 DOJ employees — not all of them attorneys — have reportedly left the department through firings, resignations, or retirements since the beginning of Trump’s second term.

Supporters of the administration argue the turnover reflects a long-overdue ideological reset inside a department that had become stacked with left-leaning attorneys hostile to Trump’s agenda.

Critics, however, say the policy change shows the department is struggling to replace experienced prosecutors.

Bloomberg Law obtained copies of a Justice Department message with the subject line “Suspension of Attorney One-Year requirement.”

The memo, as relayed by Bloomberg, declared, “This suspension is in effect until February 28, 2027, and was implemented due to an exigent hiring need for attorneys across the Department.”

In a statement to Bloomberg about the hiring push, an unnamed DOJ spokesperson said the department is committed to supporting “young and passionate prosecutors.”

“This Department of Justice is proud to empower young and passionate prosecutors and offer attorneys at every level the opportunity to invest their talents into keeping their communities safe, including from the predators the previous administration welcomed with open arms,” the statement noted.

That framing is likely to draw sharp reactions from the legal establishment, especially from elite law schools and left-leaning legal organizations that have criticized the Trump administration’s approach to the Justice Department.

But conservatives argue the backlash says more about the ideological slant of the legal profession than it does about the quality of the administration’s hiring strategy.

The Trump DOJ is not merely trying to fill seats. It is trying to rebuild a department aligned with its law-and-order priorities, immigration enforcement agenda, and broader effort to dismantle what Republicans have described as the weaponization of federal law enforcement.

The hiring shift also comes as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says he is already working to prevent what he believes could be another wave of politically motivated prosecutions targeting Trump after he leaves office.

Blanche made the remarks during an interview with NewsNation released Thursday, shortly after Trump announced he would formally nominate him to become the nation’s next attorney general.

The comments offered a window into how Blanche views the legal battles surrounding Trump and how the administration is preparing for what could come after the president’s second term ends in January 2029.

Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney in multiple criminal cases, became acting attorney general after Trump dismissed Pam Bondi in April.

Since taking over, Blanche has quickly emerged as one of Trump’s most trusted allies inside the Justice Department, advancing investigations involving some of the president’s longtime political opponents while defending the administration’s legal agenda.

During the interview, NewsNation host Katie Pavlich referenced Blanche’s previous claim that Trump likely would have faced prison time had he lost the 2024 election.

Pavlich asked Blanche whether he believes Democrats could attempt to target Trump, his family, administration officials, or even federal law enforcement personnel after the president leaves office.

“I believe it’s a possibility that the Democrats will go after President Trump, his family, anybody that knows him, anybody that worked for him,” Blanche said.

“And what can we do about it?” Blanche asked.

“We can just keep on exposing when we learn about the weaponization that happened for many years. We can keep on exposing it and putting roadblocks in place so it never happens again,” Blanche added.

Blanche also said some Democrats have already publicly discussed pursuing investigations into Trump administration officials if they regain power.

The acting attorney general expressed hope that Democrats would move away from what he described as politically motivated prosecutions, though he suggested he was not optimistic.

For conservatives, the DOJ hiring change and Blanche’s comments are part of the same broader fight.

The question is whether the Justice Department should remain controlled by a permanent legal class that often appears hostile to Republican presidents, or whether a newly elected administration has the right to staff the department with prosecutors who share its commitment to public safety, border enforcement, and equal justice under the law.

Democrats and their media allies will likely portray the hiring shift as lowering standards.

But the Trump administration sees it differently: as a way to bring in new attorneys who are not already captured by the same legal culture that helped fuel years of investigations against Trump and his allies.

The Justice Department’s decision may create controversy in Washington.

But for an administration that ran on restoring law and order, rebuilding the DOJ with younger prosecutors willing to carry out its priorities is not a side issue.

It is central to the mission.