Leavin’ Babylon
By 
As a follow-up on our discussion about the moral option for Trump administration lawyers asked to engage in lawless conduct (i.e. resign), a lot of them are in fact taking this option [gift link]:
President Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has led to an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, a striking loss of legal talent that has left some agencies pushing to find attorneys to carry out his agenda.
Roughly one in five lawyers who worked in the government at the end of 2024 had left by March of this year, according to a New York Times analysis of federal employment data.
Along with the usual retirements and turnover in the federal work force, the last year saw deep staffing cuts and the resignations of some staff members who objected to Mr. Trump’s policies. Their departures show how rapidly the president has eroded the image of the federal government as the gold standard for lawyers seeking public service roles.
Instead, many of those looking for such work are flocking to the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and nonprofits that are challenging administration policies in the courts, boosting Mr. Trump’s opponents with seasoned lawyers.
Your negative assumptions about the lawyers who stay anyway are very likely to be justified.
…Nothing to see here!
Trump: "The New York Times wrote a story today entitled, 'Trump Administration Sees Striking Exodus of Legal Talent,' as though that’s a bad thing, when actually, it’s very good."
[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 1:19 PM · May 31, 2026