US justice department axes thousands of law enforcement jobs

The Trump administration has cut more than 4,000 employees from some of the nation’s top law-enforcement agencies, Reuters writes.

The records, from the US Justice Department’s management unit, show that the total number of employees at the FBI has dropped more than 7% since the government’s ‌2024 fiscal year, a loss of about 2,600 people. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s staff has dropped by about 6%, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost about 14% of its workers.

Other parts of the Justice Department shrank even more rapidly. Its National Security Division, which handles intelligence and terrorism matters, lost nearly 38% of its staff, the department’s records show.

Other records, including detailed information about ​people who left government jobs, show an increasing pace of departures from law-enforcement agencies after Trump began his second term in January 2025.