TL;DR: In a December 9, 2025 letter, former DOJ Civil Rights staff say leadership inverted the Division’s mission, dropping core cases, purging career experts, and treating DOJ like a presidential loyalty shop. 
For decades, DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was the federal backstop for voting rights, fair housing, disability rights, and curbing unconstitutional policing. Now former attorneys are sounding an alarm: the “crown jewel” is being hollowed out. 
They cite concrete moves: DOJ dropped the Georgia SB 202 voting case; dismissed a case alleging abuse of unaccompanied immigrant children; and withdrew policing findings/settlements tied to Minneapolis and Louisville—despite “extensive evidence.” 
But the most chilling line is that the memo implied DOJ attorneys are effectively the President’s lawyers, demanding “loyalty…not the Constitution.” 
This is how rights die without a single constitutional amendment.