DOJ civil rights division fills vacancies with controversial far-right hires
The Justice Department’s civil rights division has hired dozens of lawyers with extremist or questionable backgrounds as a staffing crisis forces a relaxation of hiring standards.
Since early 2025, over 300 non-political employees have departed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, creating a talent vacuum that new chief Harmeet Dhillon has tried to fill by lowering traditional hiring bars. The division has added roughly 130 lawyers, many of whom carry far-right activist credentials or controversial legal histories. Notable appointees include Barry Arrington, a gun-rights activist now leading a new Second Amendment unit, former Los Angeles County prosecutor Eric Neff, who was placed on leave after a mishandled corporate indictment, and David Michael Levin, a convicted election-system hacker who served a short jail term.
Their records feature conspiracy advocacy, administrative sanctions, and civil-court penalties exceeding $200,000. Internal documents suggest the staffing crunch is spilling over to other DOJ units, slowing civil case progress and prompting managers to further relax screening standards.
Why it matters
The hires could shape how federal civil rights laws are enforced and signal a shift in DOJ priorities.
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