More Than 200 Former Civil Rights Attorneys Condemn Political Interference

More than 200 former career attorneys, supervisors and staff who served in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division publicly released a letter on December 9, 2025 sharply criticizing recent leadership and alleging sustained political interference in the division’s work. The signatories, who served across multiple administrations, say that long standing practices have been upended through the removal or reassignment of career managers, the reassignment of attorneys to menial tasks, the dismissal or downgrading of significant civil rights cases and the purging of experienced lawyers. They say these changes have amounted to the "near destruction" of the division.

The letter names senior leadership figures and accuses them of prioritizing partisan objectives over the impartial enforcement of civil rights laws. It singles out areas where career attorneys say enforcement has been scaled back or interrupted, including voting rights, migrant protections and police oversight. By releasing the statement on the Civil Rights Division’s 68th anniversary, the former employees sought to underline the historical role the unit has played in enforcing constitutional and statutory protections and to prompt public and congressional scrutiny.

The allegations arrive amid heightened debate over political influence inside the Justice Department and the future trajectory of federal civil rights enforcement. Legal scholars and former officials say a weakened Civil Rights Division could have cascading effects on the ability of the federal government to intervene in systemic abuses, to support state and local reform, and to bring pattern or practice investigations that have long been a hallmark of federal policing oversight.

The impact extends beyond domestic law enforcement. The United States has often cited its federal civil rights machinery in diplomatic dialogues and human rights forums, using enforcement actions as evidence of institutional remedies to discrimination. A perceived politicization of the Civil Rights Division could be leveraged by other governments to challenge U.S. credibility on human rights issues, and could complicate cooperation with international bodies and foreign counterparts on issues ranging from migrant protections to police training and accountability.

Congressional oversight is likely to intensify. Lawmakers from both parties have in different moments expressed concern about the politicization of the Justice Department, and the weight of more than 200 signatories with career credentials will add pressure for hearings, document requests and possibly legislative steps to bolster the division’s independence. Advocacy groups and civil rights organizations are expected to use the letter to renew calls for accountability and legislative protections.

The former employees call on the public and elected officials to demand a restoration of the Civil Rights Division’s independence and a recommitment to impartial enforcement. As the debate unfolds, the fate of high profile civil rights matters now in the division’s purview will become a test of whether the department can reconcile leadership priorities with the career-driven norms that have historically guided federal civil rights work.