Fourth DOJ official resigns within the span of a week

The Department of Justice (DOJ) lost its fourth official in the week following the midterms , with Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brett Shumate resigning Monday.

The Civil Division handles a wide variety of cases and has seen significant departures during the Trump administration as caseloads soared .

“Under his leadership, the Division pursued important affirmative litigation to challenge sanctuary policies and delivered key wins in lawsuits against local policies that endangered federal law enforcement,” Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on the social platform X .

“The Division also secured historic settlements to end illegal corporate DEI practices and shuttered dozens of clinics which were providing so-called ‘gender affirming care’ to minors,” Blanche continued. “We are grateful for Brett’s service at DOJ and wish him continued success.”

Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division, was the first to depart after the election.

U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, whose South Florida district oversaw the sweeping probe of the investigations into President Trump, and John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, both resigned Friday .

Shumate has overseen a number of controversial cases. These include suing universities that offered in-state tuition for undocumented citizens, defending Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting restrictions , fighting state-level laws that sought to ban federal agents from wearing masks and suing states to force them to issue undercover license plates to immigration officers.

Under the outgoing official, the Civil Division was bleeding staff, including among high-profile divisions like Appellate Staff and the Federal Programs Branch, two areas involved with defending the president’s priorities in court.

The administration has been aggressive in appealing court losses, spiking cases that must be handled by the remaining appellate staff.

The Office of Immigration Litigation also saw significant departures and a spike in cases as staff had to face habeas petitions filed by migrants demanding to be released from immigration detention.

The Commercial Litigation Branch, which handles a variety of cases, including suits from fired federal workers, saw its caseload jump 84 percent — the most of any branch.