“This argument boils down to the remarkable legal theory that the President has a constitutional right to discriminate against federal workers, in violation of the law,” her attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. “That is wrong. Full stop.”
Nemer wants to be reinstated, to receive back pay, and be issued an order that will erase her firing—and her lawsuit may echo the hopes of scores of other former DOJ employees. Since January, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have led an especially hostile Justice Department, and thousands of employees have been either dismissed or left on their own accord because of how much damage Bondi and Trump have caused. According to a compilation of farewell messages by the Justice Connection, a network of department alumni, one attorney wrote on their departure, “I will not…serve this current incarnation of the Department. It defines ‘justice’ in a way that I do not recognize.”
It’s clear that the restructuring is part of Trump’s broader plan to advance his deportation agenda, which hit a record 66,000 detainees in November—an effort his allies seem intent on supporting by stacking the system with more MAGA-leaning lawyers. A few weeks ago, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tweeted out job listings for “deportation judges,” a title that doesn’t actually exist, and included links that redirected to applications for “immigration judge.” In September, Pete Hegseth (better known as the “Secretary” of War) sent 600 military lawyers to serve as immigration judges—which is as bad as it sounds, and which is also why Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced a bill on Wednesday to authorize state AGs to appoint temporary immigration judges if they’ve had previous experience in immigration law.
“The military judges, to my understanding, are just getting started,” Emmet Soper, a DOJ judge who was ousted in November, told PBS. “When I started as an immigration judge, I was told it would take roughly two to three years to become really fully comfortable in being a judge in immigration court. And that proved accurate. This is not something that these military judges, regardless of how hard they try, are going to be able to pick up overnight.”
Building his own judiciary, though, is something Trump has clearly been set on doing since the start of his second term; he has fired DOJ officials for refusing to doggedly take up his retribution campaign; unlawfully put new ones in their place; and sometimes—like in the case of Lindsey Halligan—undermined the power of the court, himself, and the U.S. in the process.
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