Amid a critical staff shortage at the Justice Department, Trump administration officials are resorting to desperate measures to try to hire and retain personnel, Bloomberg Law reported on Tuesday.
"New vacancy postings show signing bonuses of $25,000 are newly available to staff offices investigating youth transgender treatments and litigating the Trump administration’s immigration agenda," said the report. "Further, the head of the Civil Division — which plays a crucial role advancing and protecting the president’s policies in court — informed all his attorneys Monday that they’ll begin receiving a 'retention incentive allowance' ranging from around $60 to $220 every pay period through Thanksgiving, according to an internal email reviewed by Bloomberg Law."
This comes after months of reporting that the Justice Department has been hemorrhaging staff as the more experienced lawyers lose confidence in the work the administration is making them do.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, since fired and replaced for now with her deputy Todd Blanche, ordered all staff lawyers at the DOJ to loyally defend all policies of the Trump administration unquestioningly, and since that point, there have been waves of resignations that have forced the DOJ to use fresh law school graduates to take major litigation to court.
"Trial attorney vacancies posted on DOJ’s website Tuesday for the Civil Division’s recently created enforcement and affirmative litigation branch describe in bold print 'a signing bonus of up to $25,000' that may be awarded to 'well-qualified candidates,'" said the report. "The job advertisements, which would support a DOJ team that’s been repeatedly losing in court over efforts to subpoena pediatric hospitals for sensitive data on minors prescribed drugs for gender dysphoria, instruct applicants that time is of the essence."
This also comes as the DOJ is relaxing its job requirements, the report noted: "the department in March revoked its longstanding requirement that newly hired prosecutors have at least one year of experience practicing law. The same Civil Division vacancies that entice applicants with extra money also note that new hires must have 'up to one' year of legal experience, although there are openings at higher grade levels that demand more legal practice."