House Democrats demand answers on DOJ’s move to fire former special counsel officials
House Democrats are up in arms over the recent move by the Justice Department to fire more than a dozen officials involved in former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation. In a letter penned to acting Attorney General James McHenry, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Gerald Connolly expressed their “alarm and profound concern” over the widespread summary firing and involuntary reassignment of career prosecutors and federal agents at the DOJ.
The Democrats argued that the firing of these officials was in “complete contradiction” of President Trump’s supposed commitment to a merit-based system for government employees. They pointed out that the officials who were terminated had worked diligently to defend the rule of law and had been removed from their positions without any evaluation of their work.
McHenry’s decision to fire these officials, who had worked on prosecuting the president, was based on the assertion that they could not be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda. Raskin and Connolly contended that these officials were a part of a non-political workforce that was dedicated to protecting national security and public safety. They highlighted the fact that many of these officials had decades of experience and had been recognized for their achievements by administrations of both major political parties.
The Democrats accused McHenry of removing these officials from their positions without regard to their competencies, achievements, or service to the Department. They also alleged that McHenry had rescinded job offers to summer interns and entry-level attorneys hired through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, as well as examined career civil servants’ social media profiles to ascertain their political leanings.
Raskin and Connolly demanded that the DOJ provide them with a list of names of officials who have been reassigned or terminated, as well as any communications between the DOJ and the White House regarding the content of personal social media accounts of career DOJ employees or applicants. They set a deadline of February 11 for the DOJ to provide this information.
The letter from the House Democrats comes in response to McHenry’s decision to terminate the employment of officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The DOJ official stated that McHenry does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda and that the action is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to requests for comments on the matter. It remains to be seen how this clash between House Democrats and the Justice Department will unfold in the coming days.
