The U.S. Justice Department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature policies of the administration of President Donald Trump — such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding for Harvard University — has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, a document shows.
Sixty-nine of the roughly 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch have voluntarily left the unit since Trump's election in November or have announced plans to leave, according to a list compiled by former Justice Department lawyers.
The tally has not been previously reported. Using court records and LinkedIn accounts, it was possible to verify the departure of all but four names on the list.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.