DOJ Reverses Firings at Peacemakers, Access to Justice Units

The Justice Department is reinstating employees from two offices focused on conflict resolution and access to justice, several months after terminating those federal workers as part of a broader restructuring.

The department’s human resources office sent letters to former employees with the Community Relations Service and Access to Justice offices on Friday rescinding the earlier reduction-in-force notices, according to two people familiar with the situation, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Terminated employees must repay any severance received, but will receive salary and benefits since Nov. 2, regardless of whether they choose to return, according to the letter, a copy of which was viewed by Bloomberg Law.

Employees who wish to return are instructed to report back to work on Feb. 9 and to notify the department of their plans by Jan. 16, the letter said.

The reversals come several months after the Justice Department sent notices terminating employees at the two offices, which were slated to be eliminated as standalone components in the department’s budget plans. The department has also moved to shut down the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.

The letters were sent less than a week after congressional spending leaders reached a bipartisan deal that would fund CRS in fiscal 2026, which began in October. A short-term spending extension passed last year also barred federal worker layoffs during the lapse in government funding.

A Justice Department spokesperson didn’t immediately a return a request for comment Saturday.

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

The Justice Department said in a June budget document 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.”

The mass layoffs at CRS, which was created by statute, has prompted an ongoing legal challenge by community groups in Boston federal court. The federal government has said in that litigation that it is preserving one CRS position to work within the Executive Office for US Attorneys.