The Justice Department is intensifying its efforts to dismantle longstanding civil service protections designed to shield law enforcement officials from political influence, according to current and former officials. This has resulted in a series of firings in recent days.
On Friday, over 20 career employees from the department and its component agencies were terminated, including Joseph W. Tirrell, the attorney general’s ethics adviser. Other dismissals involved senior officials from the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as prosecutors and support staff who previously worked with Jack Smith during his special counsel investigation of Donald J. Trump.
While the dismissed groups may appear unrelated, Justice Department veterans perceive a broader trend: an accelerated effort by the Trump administration to disregard and ultimately eliminate civil service legal precedents that aim to keep politics out of law enforcement, thereby granting more authority to the president's loyalists.
The recent wave of dismissals gained momentum following a Supreme Court decision that temporarily allowed the administration to proceed with mass layoffs of federal workers, thereby providing the president with increased legal authority to terminate employees en masse.
On a social media platform, Mr. Tirrell claimed he was fired without cause and shared his termination notice from Attorney General Pam Bondi, which contained a misspelling of his name and lacked a specific reason for his dismissal, stating only that the Constitution permitted it.
Employment law experts argue that such termination letters contradict decades of case law and the principles upheld by the Merit Service Protection Board, which has historically maintained that career civil servants can only be dismissed for cause.
In recent instances, the Trump administration has asserted that these protections no longer apply to federal workers, including those at the Justice Department.
In a recent filing, Justice Department lawyers stated they would not disclose any internal communications related to the March firing of Elizabeth G. Oyer, the pardon attorney, claiming the inquiries were purely legal and did not require factual development.
Ms. Oyer has filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, asserting she was punished for refusing to support an effort by the Trump administration to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, a notable supporter of the president.
Following her dismissal, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche labeled her account of the events as “false.” However, in a court filing, Justice Department lawyers acknowledged that the facts surrounding her firing were “not in dispute.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the situation.
Ms. Oyer, among numerous Justice Department employees contesting their terminations before the protection board, criticized the administration's legal strategy as undermining the board's role. She stated that the administration is “openly defying longstanding laws” and is attempting to replace nonpartisan experts with political allies throughout the Department of Justice.
She further claimed that the president is assembling a team of loyalists to execute his agenda while removing principled individuals who may oppose him.
Ed Martin, a staunch Trump supporter who has pledged to “name” and “shame” individuals he cannot prosecute, has been appointed as the new pardon attorney. Mr. Martin was initially nominated for the position of U.S. attorney in Washington but did not secure majority support from the Republican-controlled Senate.
Employment lawyers and critics of the Trump administration have vowed to challenge the firing campaign in court. The influx of cases before the Merit Service Protection Board may precede the Supreme Court's consideration of the matter, as the president contends that his constitutional authority overrides any legal protections for federal workers.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, stated that the administration's claim regarding the attorney general's power to terminate any Justice Department employee is incorrect. “We will continue to use every legal tool available to challenge this claim,” she affirmed.
Despite his dismissal, Mr. Tirrell expressed his intention to continue serving in government, stating, “My public service is not over, and my career as a federal civil servant is not finished.” He emphasized his commitment to his oath to the country, asserting that it does not come with conditions based on convenience.