Trump Administration Cuts DOJ Voting Section to Three Lawyers and Drops Voting Rights Lawsuits

The U.S. Department of Justice's Voting Section, long tasked with enforcing the Voting Rights Act and safeguarding fair elections, has been drastically reduced to just three attorneys from an estimated 30 at the start of Donald Trump's second term in January. Within months of his inauguration, all but two of the original lawyers had departed, leaving the division gutted and now led by election deniers, according to reports from Wired and watchdog groups like Justice Connection. This rapid exodus—through resignations, deferred resignation programs, reassignments, and early retirements—has crippled the section's ability to protect minority voters and challenge suppression tactics.

Senior managers, including the head of the Voting Section Tamar Hagler and five others, were reassigned to unrelated roles such as handling Freedom of Information Act requests, as detailed by The Guardian and Democracy Docket. The Trump administration has withdrawn from numerous Biden-era cases, such as challenges to Georgia's SB 202 voter suppression law, a Louisiana redistricting dispute favoring majority-minority districts, and a Texas gerrymandering suit diluting Black and Hispanic votes. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed these pullbacks, with all remaining voting rights and redistricting cases dropped or suspended by late April, shifting the section's mission from upholding voting access to pursuing voter fraud and maintaining accurate voter databases.

The broader Civil Rights Division has lost around 70% of its lawyers—about 250 in total—since Trump took office, with some sections shedding up to 75% of staff, Government Executive reported. This includes removing civil service protections from key positions, prompting further instability. Former DOJ Civil Rights chief Kristen Clarke, who led the division under Biden, described it as a "true decimation," with talented career staff replaced by inexperienced appointees producing sloppy filings riddled with errors. Joseph Rich, who headed the Voting Section from 1999 to 2005, warned of chaos in upcoming elections if fraud suits disrupt voting close to Election Day.

These changes matter deeply for American democracy, as they erode enforcement of landmark laws like the 1965 Voting Rights Act amid a conservative Supreme Court that has already weakened its provisions. Minority voters, particularly Black and Hispanic communities targeted by gerrymandering and turnout restrictions, stand to lose the most, with no federal backstop against partisan maps or state-level barriers like those in Georgia and Virginia. Groups such as the ACLU, Legal Defense Fund, and Issue One have condemned the moves, noting diminished checks on racial gerrymandering and campaign finance oversight.

What happens next remains uncertain, but the DOJ's own recent activities show a pivot: statements of interest in cases like Judicial Watch v. Illinois State Board of Elections focus on voter roll cleanups under the National Voter Registration Act, rather than access protections. As red states advance restrictions and national efforts like the stalled SAVE America Act loom, former officials fear a hollowed-out Justice Department unable to ensure free and fair elections. With midterms approaching, the stakes for voting rights have rarely been higher.