Trump-era Justice Department watchdogs shrink as misconduct complaints surge
The Justice Department’s internal watchdogs are losing staff just as complaints are climbing. One of the department’s oversight offices says filings have hit...
The Justice Department’s internal watchdogs are losing staff just as complaints are climbing. One of the department’s oversight offices says filings have hit a 20-year high, while its investigations have fallen to a 20-year low.
The squeeze matters far beyond Washington. The DOJ sits at the center of U.S. law enforcement, and its watchdogs are supposed to police attorney misconduct and other wrongdoing inside the department. With both offices weakened under President Donald Trump, former officials and outside critics say the government’s ability to check itself is getting thinner.
Staff losses hit two oversight offices
Reuters reported that two watchdog units inside the Justice Department have seen significant staff departures under Trump, driven in part by efforts to shrink the federal government. The offices handle complaints about misconduct by DOJ employees and other departmental failures.
One is the Office of Professional Responsibility. The other is the Office of Inspector General. Both are designed to investigate problems that can range from attorney misconduct to broader abuse or neglect inside the department. When they lose people, the work slows. That seems to be exactly what is happening.
According to the Reuters review cited in the source material, complaints to one watchdog have surged to a 20-year high even as investigations have dropped to a 20-year low. The numbers point in opposite directions. More allegations. Less capacity.
Scrutiny grows as oversight weakens
The staffing losses have raised fresh concern about independence inside the DOJ at a time when federal judges have increasingly criticized department lawyers for alleged misconduct. The pressure is not just about headcount. It is about whether internal controls still have enough people and insulation to do the job.
Trump’s Justice Department has already drawn scrutiny in other areas of oversight. In June, reporting cited the cancellation of election-integrity training, the removal of a 281-page guide on election offenses and the firing of most lawyers in the Public Integrity Section. That separate episode fed a broader picture of a department stripping back enforcement and review functions at the same time.
The watchdog picture has also been complicated by politics around who leads it. Trump’s nominee for inspector general, Don Berthiaume, faced Senate questioning in June during his confirmation process, after serving in an acting role at the department. During that hearing, he declined to call the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot an “attack,” according to the source material.
For now, the internal oversight machinery is still running. But fewer staff, more complaints and fewer investigations make a stark combination. At the Justice Department, the people tasked with looking inward are being asked to do more with less.
