DOJ Terminates Staff at Peacemakers, Access to Justice Units (1)

The Justice Department has moved to terminate remaining employees at the beleaguered offices focused on conflict resolution and access to justice as the Trump administration restructures the department.

Employees at the Office for Access to Justice and Community Relations Service—both slated to be eliminated as standalone units—received reduction-in-force notices on Sept. 29, according to four people familiar with the situation.

Though not unexpected, the staff cuts mark the official dissolution of the two offices, one of which had existed in local communities for decades, and follow months of uncertainty for federal employees.

The Trump administration previously announced plans to stop funding those and other offices in fiscal 2026, which began Wednesday.

The department said in a June budget document proposing to scrap the two offices that CRS’ mission “does not comport with Attorney General and Administration law enforcement and litigating priorities,” and that ATJ’s resources would be “redirected to support essential Departmental law enforcement and litigating missions.”

CRS and ATJ then had 56 and 32 positions, respectively, according to the document. The terminations are effective at the end of this month, according to the people.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that reduction-in-force notices were sent to CRS and ATJ as part of the restructuring plan and said the move “will save the Department over $11 million and further President Trump’s mission of having a federal government that’s more efficient and effective for the American people.”

CRS was created in 1964 during the civil rights movement to prevent violent conflicts within local communities.

Headquartered in Washington, CRS officers from over two dozen field offices came to communities facing tensions or conflict to facilitate events and training programs.

CRS officers have deployed to communities following the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Florida, and during the 2021 trial and sentencing of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd.

ATJ, established in 2010 to promote fairness in the criminal justice system, has awarded funding for projects that address justice issues in rural communities and works to expand legal aid. It also led Access DOJ, a customer service platform for people accessing the department’s services.

The Obama-era office was shuttered for several years during the first Trump administration but revived when Joe Biden took office.

Some functions of both offices are being reassigned to other parts of the Justice Department, the people said.

ATJ’s program that trains federal attorneys to take pro bono work will be transferred to the Justice Management Division, according to a person familiar.

The Justice Department has previously said the CRS’ core functions, which were created by statute, would move to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the administrative office supporting top prosecutors.

One CRS employee is expected to transfer to EOUSA to preserve the office’s functions at the legally required minimum, Julius Nam, associate director of CRS, said in a Sept. 18 email sent to staff and seen by Bloomberg Law.

The terminations are part of the Trump administration’s broader reshuffling within the department to align with its priorities.

The department has also said it plans to transfer the INTERPOL Washington unit, which has worked with the International Police Organization as a standalone unit, to the US Marshals Service, and dissolve the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and distribute its funding across the department.

Officials also plan to eliminate the DOJ’s tax division and transfer its enforcement work to the department’s respective civil and criminal divisions.