Federal lawyers are leaving the Trump administration in significant numbers and taking up positions in Democratic state attorneys general offices, where they are helping to mount legal challenges against the president's second-term agenda, according to a Fox News Digital review of employment data, public records, and court filings.
Employment data analyzed by the New York Times indicates that more than 10,000 federal attorneys — roughly one-fifth of all lawyers employed by the federal government — have left their posts since the beginning of 2025. Of those, Fox News Digital identified well over 100 who have since begun working for Democratic attorneys general offices, with legal filings showing that some of these lawyers are now directly involved in cases opposing the Trump administration.
The review drew on public LinkedIn profiles, state staff directories, statements from public officials, and court filings to identify attorneys who left federal service after January 2025 and later appeared in Democratic state legal offices or relevant litigation records. The analysis does not establish why any individual attorney left federal service or joined a state office, and the true number is likely higher given that not all federal workers maintain public LinkedIn accounts.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, confirmed the trend, telling Fox News Digital: «Oregon DOJ is a destination for some of the most talented public servants in the country, including experienced lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice who are choosing to bring their skills to serve Oregonians at the state level. They’re already making a difference — on consumer protection, federal overreach cases, criminal justice, environmental protection and on litigation like our National Guard case.»
Court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital uncovered scores of individuals who previously worked as lawyers under the Trump administration and whose names now appear on legal actions taken against it. These include a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts opposing the administration’s efforts to restrict transgender healthcare for minors, a suit by California challenging the termination of research grants, an amicus brief filed by Democratic attorneys general in a case seeking to stop Trump from firing FTC commissioners, and multiple cases aimed at limiting the president’s National Guard deployments.
Even attorneys whose names do not directly appear on filings can help Democratic attorneys general challenge major pieces of Trump’s agenda and defend state-level policies that run contrary to the president’s interests. Many of these lawsuits feature multiple teams of lawyers representing a host of different Democratic states, reflecting a coordinated legal strategy.
Democratic attorneys general have publicly acknowledged that close cooperation between fellow blue states is a key part of their strategy to resist the Trump administration. Speaking to The Guardian in March, Democratic attorneys general disclosed that they have been meeting regularly since 2024 to discuss how to best resist the administration through joint lawsuits and public engagement. Staff from Democratic attorneys general offices reportedly communicate daily regarding how to hold the federal government to account, discussing items such as which state should lead a given case.
«I’m really proud to be part of this [attorney general] — and, of course, Democratic [attorney general] — coalition that is doing the work every single day to protect our rights, and most importantly, the rule of law,» Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said at a press conference in June 2025. «We can’t take our sight off of that.» California’s attorney general called the cross-state collaboration «critical.»
Federal lawyers working in civil rights, immigration, environmental law, public corruption, and antitrust were overrepresented among those who left to work for Democratic attorneys general. Government employees generally fall into two categories: career civil servants, who are intended to carry out nonpartisan work on behalf of the government, and political appointees, who are granted greater leeway to work on explicitly political projects. The attorneys identified in Fox News Digital’s review overwhelmingly appear to have held career, rather than political, federal roles before joining Democratic-led state offices.
Many of the lawyers leaving federal service are taking one or even two decades of experience with them, representing a significant transfer of legal talent from the national government to Democratic states. One such lawyer worked in the Justice Department for roughly 20 years, beginning as a legal intern and ultimately rising to the position of assistant general counsel, leading multiple teams of attorneys. After leaving the DOJ in August 2025, the lawyer now works as a senior assistant attorney general in Colorado, helping the state fight the Trump administration in disputes over federal grants.
Other high-profile departures under the second Trump administration include the assistant chief counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services and the director of transparency at the Department of Homeland Security, among others. The exodus of experienced federal attorneys to Democratic state offices is likely to intensify the legal battles that have already defined much of the president’s second term.
