The Trump Justice Department is forcing some of the government’s most experienced civil rights and environmental lawyers into what insiders have dubbed the “rubber room,” according to a CBS News investigation published Wednesday.
While they once headed up major cases for the Civil Rights, National Security and Environmental divisions, the career lawyers now find themselves reporting daily to a remote DOJ satellite office. There, they fill their time with jigsaw puzzles, streaming HBO shows like “The Last of Us” and “Succession,” and practicing foreign languages on Duolingo, CBS News reported.
While the sidelined attorneys were reassigned to the so-called Sanctuary Cities task force, they are far removed from any meaningful work.
“At first glance, the job seemed promising — a legal strike team that would sue municipalities the administration claimed were facilitating the violation of immigration laws, a task force undertaking a top priority for the new Justice Department leadership,” according to CBS News.
But the group appears to exist largely in name only.
“The more these attorneys looked into it, the more they concluded the task force was a sham, a Potemkin operation that seemed more aimed at stashing away career lawyers than putting them to work on a legitimate legal project, according to interviews with six people knowledgeable about the task force, all of whom painted a similar picture,” the report said.
"For the first time in modern U.S. history, we are witnessing purely vindictive and retaliatory actions being taken against non-partisan civil servants who simply performed their jobs consistent with law and policy during prior time[s]," said national security attorney Mark Zaid.
At least four lawyers have filed formal complaints with the DOJ’s inspector general, alleging waste, fraud and abuse. Some reportedly declined to speak out publicly out of fear of retaliation.
The “rubber room” revelation is the latest sign of internal “turmoil” inside the Justice Department taking place during Trump’s second term, CBS News added, with firings, demotions and forced reassignments targeting those not seen as loyal to the MAGA legal agenda.
