How Trump’s Justice Department Departed from Tradition in 2025

President Donald Trump’s return to power ushered in persistent structural and political shifts at the Justice Department that have redefined the White House’s role in directing federal law enforcement.

Many of the departures from longstanding norms became public flash points—such as removals of career DOJ veterans, investigations of Trump enemies, and numerous grand jury rejections—while others garnered less visible contention but will nonetheless be felt for years to come.

Here’s a recap of the Trump administration’s lower-profile DOJ moves in 2025 that will affect day-to-day operations in Attorney General Pam Bondi’s second year.

Retreat on Ethics

One week after Trump’s inauguration, Emil Bove, then a senior department official, issued a memo redelegating approval authority on ethics and other sensitive decisions to two of his politically appointed aides. That meant for the first time in modern history, an experienced career civil servant would no longer be involved in tough final judgments on employee discipline, recusals, and congressional disclosures.

In the ensuing weeks, the department removed the head of its Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles attorney misconduct investigations, and fired the ethics director who advised Bondi and other senior leaders. Both of those positions remain vacant.

Former department officials say they fear internal checks on employee behavior will be considerably weakened.

US Attorney Relations

The 93 US attorneys have traditionally held quasi-independence from the department headquarters in Washington, while still reporting up to the deputy attorney general and serving at the pleasure of the president.

Plenty of data points demonstrate how 2025 was different.

It wasn’t just the ouster of Eastern Virginia’s chief prosecutor for a more loyal US attorney willing to charge Trump’s political enemies that underscores reduced autonomy.

There was also a series of behind-the-scenes mandates from Main Justice to the field to ensure alignment with the White House. Among the directives to US attorneys: sternly-worded immigration crackdowns, demands to justify keeping recently hired prosecutors, and pre-holiday data collections on cases that fulfill Trump priorities.

While past administrations similarly wanted their agenda implemented nationwide, the measures taken by this administration may restrict top prosecutors’ ability to balance political priorities with local law enforcement needs.

Case Dismissals

DOJ has proved generally receptive to dropping criminal and civil cases—sometimes for political reasons. These U-turns continue to trickle out of the department, but without any sort of defined, predictable path.

Perhaps no case is more emblematic of this dizzying approach than Bondi’s mid-trial order in July for prosecutors to dismiss charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of selling false Covid-19 vaccination cards.

Bondi credited her intervention to the advocacy of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). But the doctor’s lead attorney said she’d previously asked the Bondi-initiated DOJ weaponization team to reconsider the case months earlier and was rejected.

While appealing cases up to the deputy AG’s office has led to lenience in some instances (see the former Puerto Rico governor who’d endorsed Trump), the outgoing acting Criminal Division chief has warned defense lawyers against dishonest advocacy when going above line prosecutors’ heads.

Newly confirmed criminal head Tysen Duva will now need to signal to the defense bar his tolerance—or lack thereof—for politically connected lawyers seeking relief.

Career Hiring

The mass exodus of line prosecutors, agents, and veteran officials from the department has made waves this year.

But what about replacing those departures with new, non-political hires? That became a major undertaking in the summer for DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which experienced more attrition from its legal ranks than anywhere else in the department.

Despite internal policies walling off political leaders from the process of recruiting career trial attorneys, civil rights leaders worked out a plan, exclusively reported by Bloomberg Law, to consolidate hiring power with four Trump-aligned managers. Those supervisors have since been onboarding conservative lawyers, including at least two with checkered pasts.

Next year will reveal how division head Harmeet Dhillon’s self-described “new class of Civil Rights Warriors” continues transforming an enforcement mission from racial equality to anti-DEI and election integrity.