Trump Derails White House Event to Spiral Over State of His Health
“The system sucks, this job sucks, I’m trying every moment to get you what I need,” lawyer Julie Le said when asked why the government had failed to comply with court orders. Since then, Le was deleted from the temporary position and reinstated to ICE. She has since taken advantage of the notoriety of her comments to launch a candidacy for Congress for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.
The DOJ’s appeals staff varies in size but totals more than 150 positions, according to a 2012 article in Scottus Blog by Al J. Daniel Jr., a former DOJ appellate attorney.
Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg of the department’s personnel problems. There was an estimate 10,000 lawyers working in the Department of Justice before Donald Trump’s return to the White House. By September 2025, this figure had been reduced by almost half: Judicial Connectionan advocacy group that tracks DOJ departures, estimated that about 5,500 people (not all lawyers) had left the department, either of their own accord, accepting the Trump administration’s takeover, or being fired.
