DOJ sees exodus of staff after midterm losses

The Justice Department is weathering the Trump administration’s first wave of post-midterm departures, with three senior officials announcing their exits in the days following Democrats’ sweeping victories on Tuesday.U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones and Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg, the department’s top national security official, resigned on Friday. Their departure followed Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon’s exit on Thursday. The department had already lost another Senate-confirmed leader in October, when Patrick Davis resigned as head of the Office of Legislative Affairs, which handles the DOJ’s dealings with Congress.The DOJ is expected to begin searching for replacements quickly. But a former official’s account suggests the department may rely on acting leadership, rather than race to secure confirmations before Democrats take control of the Senate. A source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner the next acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida is Yara Klukas, who was previously the first assistant U.S. attorney under Quinones.The personnel shifts also reached the White House, where Trump announced Friday that Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff beginning Monday. Wiles is moving to Trump’s political operation.A Senate confirmation scramble? Not so fast At least one DOJ departure was in motion well before the election.The Washington Examiner reported Thursday that Dhillon planned to leave, citing two people familiar with the matter. Sources familiar with her plans had learned as early as three weeks ago that she would be departing.Former Trump campaign lawyer Harmeet Dhillon appears at a House Committee on House Administration hearing on “American Confidence in Elections: Protecting Political Speech” on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo) The resignations have nevertheless fueled speculation about whether Republicans will use their remaining weeks controlling the Senate to fill the openings.“Expect to see many many more resignations from all the Departments before the end of next week,” Bill Shipley, a former federal prosecutor whose DOJ career spanned multiple administrations, said in a post on X. “This is to create an opportunity during the Lame Duck for the Senate to confirm replacements for the final 2 years.”He predicted a Democratic Senate could “block every nomination for no purpose other than to cripple the Admin.”But a source who worked in the DOJ during Trump’s second administration rejected the expectation of a confirmation push, telling the Washington Examiner: “The expectation is everyone is acting.”That would reduce pressure to secure confirmations now and fit the administration’s reliance on temporary appointments, which it has defended against court challenges over its authority to install federal prosecutors.Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor, said relying on temporary leadership would be consistent with the administration’s handling of U.S. attorney appointments, including its use of first assistants to run offices amid disputes over who can lawfully lead them.“They cannot abide going to the Senate,” Tobias told the Washington Examiner.Tobias said he saw little reason to expect the administration to change course after the midterm elections, particularly as Trump elevated Miller to chief of staff.“They just don’t do anything in any conventional way, right?” Tobias said. “So why should they change their stripes now?”A source currently serving in the DOJ said they did not know of additional planned departures between Friday and the end of next week.Another exit from the Trump conspiracy investigation Quinones’s departure leaves the Southern District of Florida without its top prosecutor as the office handles the alleged “grand conspiracy” investigation into intelligence and law enforcement officials accused of weaponizing the government to target Trump.The investigation has sought to connect episodes stretching from the Trump-Russia investigation and Steele dossier to former special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal prosecutions of Trump. And despite substantial setbacks and personnel losses, the DOJ has not indicated that its investigation is over.It previously lost Joseph diGenova, the Reagan-era U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who returned in April as counselor to the attorney general to lead the investigation. He resigned in September, telling the Washington Examiner, “Conducting investigations is arduous work, and there are always differences of opinions.”Joseph diGenova, attorney for President Donald Trump, concludes a news conference at the Republican National Committee on lawsuits regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images) The Associated Press reported that Quinones’s resignation followed frustrations in Washington over his management and that investigators had postponed grand jury testimony from several witnesses.Others who worked with Quinones described him as talented, dedicated, and guided by the evidence and law.Sources familiar with diGenova’s thinking argued that the investigation was never expected to move quickly and that a handful of indictments, rather than dozens, offered a stronger path. Sources at headquarters, however, had grown more critical of Quinones’s leadership.Attorney General Todd Blanche praised Quinones’s service, highlighting his work against violent crime and trafficking, including the indictment of former Cuban leader Raul Castro.Behind Eisenberg’s exit, an alleged fight over reporters subpoenas, and DOJ denial Bloomberg Law reported Friday evening that Blanche ordered Eisenberg to resign after clashes over White House demands for faster leak investigations.Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the outlet said Eisenberg resisted pressure to compel reporters to identify sources before investigators completed other steps required by DOJ protocols.The disputes included subpoenas targeting New York Times reporters who covered security concerns involving Trump’s Qatari-donated jet. The department withdrew those subpoenas in July after judicial pushback, Bloomberg Law reported. That claim was quickly disputed by a senior official’s comments to the Washington Examiner, who said Eisenberg’s exit had nothing to do with the reporter subpoenas.Eisenberg had led the National Security Division since June 2025, overseeing espionage, terrorism, and other sensitive matters. Blanche’s public announcement offered praise rather than signs of friction.“He has served with distinction, strengthening our nation’s ability to address threats, both foreign and domestic,” Blanche said. It was a great day in Jacksonville Florida today as we announced OVER $73 MILLION is being invested into the city through the Model Cities Initiative!As much progress has been made over the last several years in this city, Jacksonville residents are enduring a murder rate that… pic.twitter.com/TxvJE32cKI— Attorney General Todd Blanche (@AGToddBlanche) November 6, 2026 By Friday afternoon, Blanche was welcoming Miller’s promotion and thanking Wiles.PROSECUTOR OVERSEEING TRUMP ‘GRAND CONSPIRACY’ INVESTIGATION RESIGNS“She’s a rockstar and will no doubt continue working to make our country great,” Blanche wrote. “Looking forward to continuing our work with my good friend Stephen Miller as Chief.”After highlighting the administration’s work on crime, public safety, and fraud, he added: “We’re not slowing down.”