Department of Justice, Federal Government, Politics

What Does The Federal Government Hiring Freeze Mean For The Justice Department?

What does President Trump's federal government hiring freeze mean for aspiring Justice Department lawyers?

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Aspiring DOJ lawyers: left out of the cold?

Aspiring DOJ lawyers: left out of the cold?

“You’re fired!” Before you’ve even been hired.

On the Monday after Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump ordered an across-the-board hiring freeze for the federal government. What does this mean for lawyers hoping to work for the Department of Justice and other parts of the federal government?

We reached out to the Justice Department, which issued the following statement, through a spokesperson:

Pursuant to the President’s freeze memorandum, the Department is developing implementing guidance that will seek to ensure DOJ’s essential national security and public safety work continues without disruption. We also understand the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management, will be issuing further guidance regarding the freeze. In the meantime, the Justice Department will continue, without pause, to protect the nation with the available resources it has today.

So the upshot is that the implications for DOJ hiring aren’t clear yet; much remains to be worked out. Note the statement’s reference to the Department’s “essential national security and public safety work.” The freeze memorandum permits agency heads to seek exemptions for positions needed to ensure national security or public safety, so it’s quite possible that the attorney general (presumably Jeff Sessions) will make such an application.

Assuming that the freeze ends up including the DOJ (or at least certain components of it), we’re (sadly) not in uncharted territory. Longtime Above the Law readers might recall the hiring freeze instituted in the wake of the Great Recession, which lasted for a little over three years, from 2011 to 2014. That experience can give us some guidance for what to expect today.

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It was not a pleasant experience. Lawyers hoping to work at Main Justice or in a U.S. Attorney’s Office were basically out of luck during this period (subject to a few exceptions for positions deemed important to national security, such as some AUSA and DOJ slots handling immigration cases).

Lawyers already working for the Department suffered as well. With the DOJ not allowed to fill the spots of departing lawyers, the attorneys who remained had to struggle under heavier and heavier workloads. Some U.S. Attorney’s Offices resorted to the practice of hiring unpaid “Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys” (SAUSAs), which generated significant controversy and criticism. Detractors attacked the SAUSA program as exploitative (of the laboring-for-free lawyers) and also unfair (to lawyers who might want the valuable job experience but couldn’t afford to forego a salary).

That’s the picture for experienced lawyers hoping to lateral into the DOJ. What about entry-level attorneys coming into the Department through the Honors Program? This group includes, by the way, current 3Ls and judicial law clerks who are holding Honors Program offers for jobs to start later this year.

The DOJ spokesperson did not address this subject (although we raised it). But we understand from sources that based on past practice over the last decade or so, (1) outstanding Honors Program offers should remain valid (i.e., they will not be rescinded), and (2) the Honors Program will continue during the course of a freeze, but possibly at a greatly reduced size. This is consistent with what happened during the 2011-2014 hiring freeze: the Honors Program kept its doors open, but the number of available jobs dropped dramatically, by more than half.

Remember, however, that the scope of this latest freeze is not yet clear (as the DOJ statement suggests). It could be narrower than the last one, or it could be broader.

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On the bright side, let’s keep in mind what the freeze does not cover. It does not include “PAS” positions, i.e., positions requiring presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, nor does it include members of the noncareer Senior Executive Service (so President Trump will be able to continue sending political appointees to the DOJ). It does not affect the military, so current and aspiring JAG lawyers should be fine. And it does not affect law clerks or staff attorneys in the federal courts, since it covers only the executive branch.

Good luck to everyone seeking employment as a lawyer with the federal government. It’s a privilege to be able to stand up in court and say you represent the United States — and hopefully one that will remain available to lawyers willing to serve.

During the campaign, President Trump pledged to bring law and order to American cities, to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and to renegotiate unfair trade deals. If he wants to make good on those promises, then he’ll need the help of federal government lawyers.

Trump Orders Broad Hiring Freeze for Federal Government [New York Times]
What does a hiring freeze mean for the federal workforce? [Washington Post]
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies [The White House]
Attorney General Holder Announces Justice Department to Lift Hiring Freeze [U.S. Department of Justice]

Earlier: Would You Work as a Federal Prosecutor — for Free?
The DOJ Wants You, Experienced Attorneys — To Work for Free
A Justice Department Round-Up: Gloomy News
The Incredible Shrinking DOJ Honors Program

DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.

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