Federal lawyers are leaving the Trump administration and landing in Democratic state attorneys generals offices in large numbers as blue states ramp up their legal fight against the president’s second-term agenda, a Fox News Digital review found.
Employment data analyzed by the New York Times indicates that more than 10,000 federal attorneys â approximately one-fifth of all lawyers employed by the federal government â have left their posts since 2025 began. Of these, a Fox News Digital review identified well over 100 who have since begun working for Democratic attorneys generals offices, with legal filings showing that some of those lawyers are now involved in cases challenging the Trump administration.
Fox News Digital reviewed 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 attorneys general’s offices or relevant litigation records. The review does not establish why any individual attorney left federal service or joined a state office.
The true number of federal attorneys who have moved to Democratic attorneys general offices under the second Trump administration is likely higher, given that public LinkedIn accounts are not ubiquitous among federal workers.
” 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,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital. “Theyre already making a difference â on consumer protection, federal overreach cases, criminal justice, environmental protection and on litigation like our National Guard case.”
As Rayfield alluded to, many of the attorneys who left federal service after January 2025 have since worked directly on cases aimed at . Court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital uncovered scores of individuals who previously worked as lawyers under the Trump administration whose names now appear on legal actions taken against it.Â
These include a lawsuit filed by opposing the Trump administrations efforts to restrict transgender healthcare for minors, a suit filed by California challenging its 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 seeking to rein in the presidents National Guard deployments, among others.Â
Even those whose names don’t directly appear on filings can help Democratic attorneys general challenge major pieces of Trumps agenda and defend state-level policies contrary to the president’s interests.
Many of these lawsuits featured multiple teams of lawyers representing a host of different Democratic states. Democratic attorneys general have publicly disclosed that close cooperation between fellow blue states is a key part of their strategy to .
Speaking to The Guardian in March, Democratic attorneys general disclosed that they have been meeting regularly since 2024 to discuss how they can best resist the Trump administration through joint lawsuits and public engagement. Staff from Democratic attorneys general’s offices reportedly communicate daily regarding how they can to account, discussing items such as which state should lead a given case.
“Im really proud to be part of this [attorney general] â and, of course, Democratic [attorney general] â coalition that is doing the work every single day to protect our rights, and most importantly, the rule of law,” Massachusetts state Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said at a press conference in June 2025. “We cant take our sight off of that.”
Californias attorney general, meanwhile, called the cross-state collaboration “critical.”
Federal lawyers working in the areas of , immigration, envir
