DOJ revokes job offers to law students from top schools, removes staff

Emails sent out Wednesday afternoon to those in the Attorney General’s Honors Program stated, "This email is about your application to the Attorney General’s Honors Program. Pursuant to the hiring freeze announced January 20, 2025, your job offer has been revoked. We appreciate your interest in employment in the Department of Justice."

The program is described by the DOJ as "the nation's premier entry-level federal attorney recruitment program" that "attracts candidates from hundreds of law schools across the country representing a broad cross-section of experiences and interests."

People familiar with the program told the Washington Post that upwards of 100 lawyers are hired each year, with the most recent hires having staggered start dates throughout the second half of 2025. The new hires had interviewed under the Biden administration and accepted their positions after the November election.

Among those affected by the revoked job offers are current students and graduates of Berkeley, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Virginia law schools—the most prestigious in the country.

The Department of Justice has also removed a top immigration official from her job. A total of four top officials from the agency were removed from their posts, including Lauren Alder Reid, who served as assistant director of the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. She had been with the agency for over 14 years.

Reid told ABC News, "They did not give me any reason, other than not citing the 16 years of outstanding performance evaluation for lack of any discipline, administrative leave or reassignment in my entire career." She said she and the others removed were considering all options available to them, including legal action against the DOJ.

As part of a flurry of executive orders signed by Trump on the night of his first day in office, he ordered a hiring freeze. "As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law," the executive order stated.