Internal documents of the Department of Justice, obtained by Reuters, show that some of the most important federal agencies – FBI, DEA, and ATF – have lost over 4,000 employees from the fiscal year 2024 to the present, despite public commitments from the Trump administration to strengthen the fight against crime.
According to data analyzed by Reuters, the FBI has recorded a decrease of over 7% in staff, equivalent to about 2,600 positions. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has lost nearly 6% of its employees, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has suffered a reduction of about 14%.
Other structures of the Department of Justice were even more severely affected. The National Security Division, responsible for espionage, terrorism, and illegal export of military technology cases, has lost almost 38% of its staff, according to the same source. In a recent budget request, the division warned of “unprecedented staff constraints”.
Former official Adam Hickey argued that the reduction of resources turns the unit’s activity from a proactive one into a strictly reactive one, limited to obvious emergencies.
Wave of departures after the start of Trump’s second term
Other documents analyzed by Reuters show that the pace of departures from law enforcement agencies significantly increased after January 2025 (when Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US president took place). Critics argue that staff reductions undermine the federal government’s ability to combat crime and terrorism.
Stacey Young, former lawyer in the Department of Justice, argues that the administration “talks tough about crime, but empties the agencies that should be fighting it.”
In parallel, the data shows a sharp decline in federal drug trafficking cases, which last year reached the lowest level in the last two decades. Reuters’ analysis of millions of federal cases indicates that the downward trend continues into 2026.
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