DOJ Struggles to Keep Up with Workload Under Trump Administration

Attorney General Pam Bondi faces staffing shortages and low morale as the department deals with a backlog of cases.

Published on Feb. 27, 2026

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The Department of Justice has been overwhelmed in recent months, losing nearly 10,000 employees from November 2024 to November 2025. This has led to a backlog of federal immigration cases and ongoing legal fallout from the administration's mass-deportation push. Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced questions about the department's haphazard redaction of the Epstein files and has often gone on the attack rather than defending the department's work.

Why it matters

The DOJ's staffing shortages and low morale have hampered its ability to effectively carry out its core functions, which have become increasingly politicized under the Trump administration. The president has directed the department to pursue his personal enemies and has replaced career DOJ employees with inexperienced loyalists, sometimes to the detriment of his own agenda.

The details

The U.S. Attorney's Offices shed 14% of their workforce in a one-year period, with some employees being fired, taking buyout packages, or simply walking away. This has led to an 'enormous burden' on the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, who has been responsible for defending recent federal immigration-enforcement efforts. One ICE attorney who volunteered to work on Minnesota's backlog was removed from her DOJ post after telling a judge that her job 'sucks' because of the increased caseload and the administration's failure to comply with immigration court orders.

  • From November 2024 to November 2025, the DOJ lost nearly 10,000 employees.
  • Last month, Bondi suggested in court filings that the department was struggling to keep up with its workload, having released only a fraction of the millions of Jeffrey Epstein–related files under review.
  • In September, after an acting U.S. attorney reportedly decided that the case against Comey was too weak to pursue, the president pressured him to resign and replaced him with one of his former lawyers, Lindsey Halligan, who had never prosecuted a case before.

The players

Pam Bondi

The current Attorney General of the United States, who has been presiding over an understaffed and overworked Department of Justice.

Jamie Raskin

A U.S. Representative who questioned Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Jerry Nadler

A U.S. Representative who questioned Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Lindsey Halligan

One of President Trump's former lawyers, who was appointed as a U.S. Attorney and prosecuted cases against Letitia James and James Comey, despite having no prior prosecutorial experience.

Letitia James

The New York State Attorney General, who was prosecuted by Lindsey Halligan at the direction of President Trump.

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The takeaway

The DOJ's staffing shortages and low morale, combined with the politicization of the department under the Trump administration, have severely hampered its ability to effectively carry out its core functions, leading to backlogs, mishandled cases, and concerns about the department's independence and integrity.