The Justice Department lost 4,000 employees in the Trump administration’s controversial government downsizing initiative, and critics worry those cuts will impact safety in U.S. communities.
The so-called “fork in the road” deferred resignation program, which incentivized some employees to leave federal government service, reduced the manpower in the agency for an estimated savings of $470 million, according to a department budget summary reviewed by CBS News.
Further reductions are planned, according to the summary, including 1,500 positions to be eliminated in the FBI. More than 700 vacant FBI agent positions are to be part of those cuts.
The reductions have been championed by the new leadership inside the Justice Department. In the agency’s budget summary, referred to the cuts as part of a streamlining and right-sizing process.
“Capitalizing on increased efficiency, FBI will prioritize core missions of securing the border, eliminating transnational criminal organizations, reinforcing national security, and protecting the American people from violent crime,” the department said in the summary.
The cuts represent a small percentage of an agency that has approximately 105,000 employees. But former officials and law enforcement analysts said they’re draining the Justice Department of experienced agents and leaders.
“The department has suffered an irreparable loss through the thousands who’ve left through the deferred resignation program,” said Stacey Young, a former Justice Department attorney who resigned earlier this year.
“Many of those who resigned wanted to stay, but they were told to take the offer or face termination,” she said.
She added that “expertise, institutional knowledge and stability are keys — not impediments — to an efficient and effective government.”
Young is the executive director of Justice Connections, an advocacy group made up of former Justice Department employees.
Thomas Chittum, a former assistant director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, called the cuts “shortsighted.” He predicted the reductions in staff “would immediately diminish investigative capacity” and also “undermine long-term effectiveness” because fewer senior agents would overlap with new agents. This, he said, has been “critical to transferring hard-earned institutional knowledge.”
“No one becomes a seasoned investigator overnight,” Chittum said. “We should not mortgage the future of federal law enforcement for short-term cost savings.”
Congress must still approve funding for the Justice Department, including the FBI, and will review the budget requests and recommendations submitted by the agency.
The Justice Department budget summary also revealed plans to shutter the agency’s Community Relations Service and eliminate all 56 of the office’s positions. It was founded during the civil rights era in the mid-20th century, and its mission is to be “America’s peacemaker,” tasked with “preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions, conflicts, and civil disorders, and in restoring racial stability and harmony.”
Former Justice Department official Bert Brandenberg blasted the agency’s plans to close this office. “Sacking expert conciliators on the eve of a summer of growing tension is like turning off fire hydrants as flames approach,” Brandenberg told CBS News. “This is a recipe for more chaos and more violence.”
FBI director Kash Patel has announced initiatives to relocate federal agents and staff away from Washington, D.C., and into FBI field offices elsewhere in the U.S. Former agency officials said the shifting of jobs could accelerate the number of retirements and resignations of agents in the bureau.
Patel told a House subcommittee in May that relocating the positions from the District of Columbia would “enhance investigative capacity and provide better support to Federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners.”
He testified that it would “increase the investigative capacity in 49 of our 55 field offices.”
Some employees who opted for the administration’s “fork in the road” resignation program criticized rapid and controversial changes in the agency. Former Justice Department spokesman Joshua Stueve, who resigned in February, wrote in his resignation letter, “[I]t has been an honor to serve this department under multiple administrations led by both Republicans and Democrats, each of whom have previously treated career staff with respect and dignity. It is heartbreaking to see that basic decency come to an end.”
In its Jan. 28 letter to federal employees, the White House Office of Management and Budget explained its efforts to reduce some of the federal workforce, including inside the Justice Department.
“At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions,” the letter read. “If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.”
Young said that cutting staff at the FBI “jeopardizes Americans’ safety in a heightened threat environment.”
A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the accuracy of the budget summary memo reviewed by CBS News but did not respond to requests for comment.
