President Donald Trump on Sunday condemned The New York Times for portraying the departure of thousands of federal government attorneys as a negative development, arguing instead that the exodus is helping rid Washington of entrenched bureaucrats who opposed his agenda.
In a Truth Social post, Trump responded to a report headlined “Trump Administration Sees Striking Exodus of Legal Talent,” which detailed a sharp decline in the federal government’s legal workforce since he returned to office. The president stated that many attorneys leaving government service were “Radical Left Deep State Lunatics” who had been involved in the “weaponization” of government against political opponents.
He wrote: “The people that are leaving are Radical Left Deep State Lunatics, who are destroying our Country, and Weaponizing Government.” Trump claimed that many of the attorneys had not left but were fired and that they were hired during the Obama and Biden administrations and “shouldn’t have been representing the U.S.A. in the first place.”
According to data from The New York Times, the federal civilian legal workforce fell to approximately 37,000 by the end of March, down roughly 17% from the end of 2024. Over 10,000 government lawyers have departed since Trump returned to office, while agencies hired only about 3,200 attorneys during the same period.
The Justice Department, which employs more than a quarter of all federal attorneys, saw its legal ranks shrink by about 2,665—representing a 21% decline. The Department of Education lost more than half its attorneys, while agencies including Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, and the Environmental Protection Agency also reported significant reductions.
One exception was the Department of Homeland Security, where government lawyers increased by 21% as the administration expanded resources for immigration enforcement and border security initiatives.
Trump closed his message by stating: “Let them go on to ‘bigger, better, and brighter’ things in the future — I fully support that, and wish them all well!”
