Story perspectives

DOJ Loses 40% Appellate Staff, Backlog Grows, Retaliation Alleged

5/5/2026

Summary

Story summary

A civil lawsuit revealed that the Justice Department’s Appellate Section lost over 40 percent of its attorneys since February 2025, with Justice Connection tracking roughly 5,500 departures by September 2025 and few replacements.
The shortage left many appellate cases unassigned and helped create a backlog of more than 3.3 million immigration cases by February 2026.
Protect Democracy called the department’s post-inaugural indictments of political figures and activists retaliatory.

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Story summary

A civil lawsuit revealed that the Justice Department’s Appellate Section lost over 40 percent of its attorneys since February 2025, with Justice Connection tracking roughly 5,500 departures by September 2025 and few replacements.
The shortage left many appellate cases unassigned and helped create a backlog of more than 3.3 million immigration cases by February 2026.
Protect Democracy called the department’s post-inaugural indictments of political figures and activists retaliatory.