Shumate brett aag

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Brett Shumate, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, resigned on Monday. He is the most recent of several Senate-confirmed DOJ leaders to depart in the wake of last week’s midterm elections, which saw the GOP suffer huge losses.

In a _{statement on X}_, Attorney General Todd Blanche said he accepted the departure: “Today I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Civil Division. Under his leadership, the Division pursued important affirmative litigation to challenge sanctuary policies and delivered key wins in lawsuits against local policies that endangered federal law enforcement. The Division also secured historic settlements to end illegal corporate DEI practices and shuttered dozens of clinics which were providing so-called ‘gender affirming care’ to minors. We are grateful for Brett’s service at DOJ and wish him continued success.”

Shumate, a former member of the Justice Department under Trump’s first term, ran a division that went after local governments uncooperative with the administration’s immigration hard line, as well as healthcare clinics for transgender minors and corporate diversity programs, _{according to Reuters}_. In court, he has also put up a defense for Trump’s move to strip citizenship from naturalized immigrants.

Last month, the department went after 40 naturalized Americans in what Blanche called the “largest denaturalization effort in modern history.”

“Every single one of these individuals lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” Shumate said, _{according to The New Republic}_.

Shumate also defended the administration’s push to give the U.S. Postal Service a role in overseeing mail-in ballots, NBC News reported. He likewise had a hand in the decision to let planes carrying alleged Tren de Aragua members land in El Salvador last year despite a judge’s order to the contrary.

The Civil Division, like others in the DOJ, has seen its ranks thin out since Trump’s reelection two years back, even in the unit tasked with defending the president’s policies in court. Lately, the division under Shumate has been offering signing bonuses as high as $25,000.

What prompted Shumate to resign remains unclear. He joins other senior officials who have moved on of late: Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division, John Eisenberg of National Security, and U.S. attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, who oversaw probes into past criminal investigations of Trump.

The exits come as Democrats prepare to take over Congress in January with plans to investigate Trump and his administration.

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Brett Shumate is the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the Department of Justice. He has supervisory authority in State of Washington v. Trump, the lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order purporting to undo birthright citizenship. He's also the lead attorney of record in two cases brought by the United States against states seeking to force those states to disregard their sanctuary jurisdiction laws, including U.S. v. Illinois and US v. State of New York (challenging New York's so-called "greenlight law"), and several others, including the now-dismissed lawsuit brought by former Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger challenging his illegal termination.

---

AN 8 25

There are nearly 25 million naturalized citizens in the United States, accounting for 7% of the total population. Each and every one of them should be laser-focused on the Trump administration’s plans to denaturalize and deport as many of them as possible.

*This story originally appeared at Truthdig.

Denaturalization is the process by which the federal government revokes the citizenship of persons born outside of the country who became citizens by meeting the standards set by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act, which include swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States, and demonstrating “good moral character.”

Although denaturalization rates have declined over the past several decades, there is ample historical precedent for the revival President Donald Trump is planning. Between 1906 and 1967 — when the Supreme Court stepped in to tighten the legal requirements — more than 22,000 Americans were denaturalized. Many were left-wing activists who were singled out during the two Red Scares of the 20^th century. A common method to denaturalize them was to accuse them of fraud in taking their oaths of allegiance. In 1919, in perhaps the most famous case of all, the government deported Emma Goldman to Russia under the Anarchist Exclusion Act after revoking her naturalized citizenship. In the 1950s, the government tried but failed to denaturalize labor leader Harry Bridges.

On June 11, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote a memorandum that lists denaturalization as one of the Department of Justice’s top legal objectives to further Trump’s political goals. The memo was directed to the DOJ’s Civil Division, the department’s largest litigating component, which represents the United States and its executive agencies, members of Congress, cabinet officers and other federal employees in thousands of legal matters each year. It instructed the division’s attorneys to “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence,” focusing on 10 broad categories of enforcement actions:

Cases against individuals who pose a potential danger to national security, including those with a nexus to terrorism, espionage, or the unlawful export from the United States of sensitive goods, technology, or information raising national security concerns;*

Cases against individuals who engaged in torture, war crimes, or other human rights violations;
Cases against individuals who further or furthered the unlawful enterprise of criminal gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and drug cartels;
Cases against individuals who committed felonies that were not disclosed during the naturalization process;
Cases against individuals who committed human trafficking, sex offenses, or violent crimes;

Cases against individuals who engaged in various forms of financial fraud against the United States (including Paycheck Protection Program [“PPP”] loan fraud and Medicaid/Medicare fraud);

Cases against individuals who engaged in fraud against private individuals, funds, or corporations;

Cases against individuals who acquired naturalization through government corruption, fraud, or material misrepresentations, not otherwise addressed by another priority category;

Cases referred by a United States Attorney’s Office or in connection with pending criminal charges, if those charges do not fit within one of the other priorities; and

Any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.

IFrame Content

The first nine categories are generally consistent with the government’s existing powers, reflecting Trump’s penchant for exploiting the loopholes and weak links in current law whenever feasible. The 10th category, however, is a wildcard that could expand those powers exponentially and lead to a Red Scare encore.

And as dark and dangerous as that possibility sounds, it may be perfectly legal.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to establish a “uniform Rule of Naturalization.” Pursuant to this authority, Congress passed the first naturalization act in 1790, and ratified additional acts well into the late 19^th century. But it was not until the passage of the Naturalization Act of 1906 that Congress federalized naturalization procedures.

The act incorporated earlier race-based legislation that limited naturalization to white people and those with African origins. It also created the Bureau of Immigration Services, the precursor of the present-day U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which promulgated uniform application forms, and began the process of moving naturalization jurisdiction to the federal courts. (Prior to 1906, immigrants were able to apply for citizenship before any court of record, including state and municipal courts. In 1990, Congress shifted jurisdiction from the federal courts to the executive branch, where it remains to this day, although naturalization ceremonies are still conducted by federal district court judges.)

The Naturalization Act of 1906 was also the first federal law that provided for denaturalization, centered on individuals who had obtained citizenship by fraud, were racially ineligible and lacked “good moral character.” The act was amended on several occasions, most notably in 1952 by the McCarthy-era McCarran-Walter Act, which added provisions for denaturalization based on activities deemed subversive or connected to communist or communist-front organizations.

Today’s denaturalization procedures are set forth in two sections of Title 8 of the U.S. Code. Section 1451 authorizes the Department of Justice to institute civil proceedings, alleging that citizenship was “illegally procured” or obtained “by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.” The section also mandates denaturalization for individuals who refuse to testify before a congressional committee concerning their alleged subversive activities in cases where they have been convicted of contempt for such refusals.

Section 1425 of Title 8 authorizes criminal prosecutions, making it a felony punishable by 25 years in prison to knowingly procure, “contrary to law, the naturalization of any person.” A conviction results in automatic denaturalization.

Once denaturalized under either section, a person returns to their immigration status before becoming a citizen, rendering them vulnerable to deportation.

It’s easy to see why Trump and his advisers have opted to emphasize civil denaturalization proceedings over criminal prosecutions. In civil cases, there is no right to a jury trial or court appointed counsel, and there is no statute of limitations. The standard of proof is also lower. According to the Supreme Court’s precedent decisions, to prevail, the government must present “clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence” that the targeted individual obtained citizenship illegally or willfully misrepresented a material fact during the naturalization process. That is a rigorous test, but one far lower than the “beyond a reasonable” doubt standard for criminal prosecutions.

The first Trump administration attempted to make denaturalization a priority, launching an initiative dubbed “Second Look,” which built upon a similar Obama administration program called “Operation Janus” to identify alleged terrorists and fraudsters who had naturalized. In the end, however, Trump 1.0 filed a mere 102 denaturalization cases, amounting to an annual rate higher than the 16 cases per year filed under Obama, and eclipsing the total of 24 cases filed under Biden, but still miniscule. This time around, Trump 2.0 is pledging to bring the resources of the entire DOJ civil division behind the effort, reviving the specter of mass denaturalization.

The Shumate memo had largely flown under the media’s radar until Trump started talking in early July about deporting former best bro Elon Musk and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and stripping comedian and longtime celebrity nemesis Rosie O’Donnell of her citizenship.

O’Donnell, who is seeking dual citizenship in Ireland, appears safe from Trump’s clutches as she was born in Commack, New York, and enjoys birthright citizenship under the 14^th Amendment. Even Trump’s January executive order attacking birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants would leave her unscathed.

Musk and Mamdani are another story, as both are naturalized citizens. Musk, born in South Africa, naturalized in 2002. Mamdani, born in Uganda to Indian parents, naturalized in 1998. Musk allegedly worked illegally in the U.S. in violation of his student visa after leaving Stanford University in 1995. Mamdani has been accused of posting comments on X quoting rap lyrics suggesting support for Hamas.

Even if Trump’s threats against O’Donnell, Musk and Mamdani are basically performative, thousands of less affluent naturalized citizens will likely be caught up in the coming denaturalization dragnet. Millions more who are not targeted will be intimidated from exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and full political engagement. The net result will be a society less diverse and less free for the vast majority, exactly what Donald Trump and his cohorts want.

---

fIRST ON FOX: The newly confirmed head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division sent out a memo hours after being sworn in on Wednesday in which he directed staff to prioritize investigations and bring legal action that involved a slate of conservative priorities, including rooting out antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate’s internal memo, first obtained by Fox News Digital, also directed attorneys in the DOJ's largest division to focus on tightening restrictions on transgender medical care and denaturalizing citizens who "illegally procured" naturalization.

The memo outlined what areas the Civil Division's lawsuits would center on, bringing proactive litigation to the fore in a division that is otherwise largely focused on defense.

The primary task of the division is defending the government in court in non-criminal matters. These include the hundreds of lawsuits President Donald Trump and his administration have been hit with as Trump carries out executive actions that test the limits of presidential authority.

TRUMP ORDERS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE BIDEN'S AUTOPEN USE

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Division Brett A. Shumate speaks during the investiture ceremony for U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden April 13, 2018, at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Civil Division attorneys from the Federal Programs Bench have been fighting court battles with mixed success on behalf of Trump related to his sweeping tariffs, birthright citizenship, activities by the Department of Government Efficiency, and, most recently, his use of the National Guard in California.

Shumate was confirmed by the Senate on Monday along party lines.

The Civil Division head was seen during the confirmation process as a Trump loyalist. He previously worked as a partner at Jones Day, a Washington-based firm that has represented Trump during his campaigns. Shumate was a top official in the Civil Division for two years during the first Trump administration.

READ THE MEMO BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

Shumate's memo indicated that he wanted to kick off his first day in office by setting a tone for the division's wealth of attorneys that aligned with Trump's and Attorney General Pam Bondi's agendas.

In an unusual move, the division will also coordinate with the Civil Rights Division on its anti-DEI efforts by bringing False Claims Act cases related to discrimination, Shumate noted in the memo. Trump has frequently described DEI as discriminatory.

"Consistent with these directives, the Civil Division will use all available resources to pursue affirmative litigation combatting unlawful discriminatory practices in the private sector," Shumate wrote.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

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I’m thankful to President Trump, Attorney General Bondi, and the U.S. Senate for the opportunity to serve as Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division at U.S. Department of Justice.

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U.S. Department of Justice logo

Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division

U.S. Department of JusticeU.S. Department of Justice

Jun 2025 - Present · 3 mosJun 2025 to Present · 3 mos

Washington, District of Columbia, United StatesWashington, District of Columbia, United States

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Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division

U.S. Department of JusticeU.S. Department of Justice

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Jones DayJones Day

Aug 2019 - Jan 2025 · 5 yrs 6 mosAug 2019 to Jan 2025 · 5 yrs 6 mos

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I was a Partner in the Government Regulation Practice, where I helped clients with high-stakes regulatory litigation involving the government and developed creative strategies to challenge state and federal laws and policies on constitutional and statutory grounds.I was a Partner in the Government Regulation Practice, where I helped clients with high-stakes regulatory litigation involving the government and developed creative strategies to challenge state and federal laws and policies on constitutional and statutory grounds.…see more

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Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division

U.S. Department of JusticeU.S. Department of Justice

Jun 2017 - Apr 2019 · 1 yr 11 mosJun 2017 to Apr 2019 · 1 yr 11 mos

Washington, District Of ColumbiaWashington, District Of Columbia

As Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Federal Programs Branch, I supervised more than 110 attorneys handling the government’s highest-profile cases in federal district courts.As Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Federal Programs Branch, I supervised more than 110 attorneys handling the government’s highest-profile cases in federal district courts.

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I was a partner in the appellate, litigation, telecom, media, & technology practice groups. Recognized as a “recommended” appellate lawyer and “rising star," I handled appellate litigation matters, focusing on telecom appeals in the D.C. Circuit, and other regulatory litigation.I was a partner in the appellate, litigation, telecom, media, & technology practice groups. Recognized as a “recommended” appellate lawyer and “rising star," I handled appellate litigation matters, focusing on telecom appeals in the D.C. Circuit, and other regulatory litigation.…see more

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[### Brett A. Shumate - Civil Division

Department of Justice (.gov)

https://www.justice.gov › civil › assistant-attorney-general](https://www.justice.gov/civil/staff-profile/assistant-attorney-general)

Jun 11, 2025 — Brett A. Shumate was sworn in as the Civil Division's 36^th Assistant Attorney General on June 11, 2025. He previously served in the Civil ...

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[### Brett Shumate

The Federalist Society

https://fedsoc.org › contributors › brett-shumate](https://fedsoc.org/contributors/brett-shumate)

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[### Brett Shumate - Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division

LinkedIn · Brett Shumate

1.8K+ followers](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-shumate-54b51935)

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[### Senate Confirms Brett Shumate To Head DOJ Civil Division

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UC Berkeley Law

https://www.law.berkeley.edu › files › careers › C...](https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/careers/CA_Federal_Judge_Profiles%2814%29.pdf)

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May 7, 2012 — "His political views were conservative, but he could be very fair and open-minded. He was in many ways typical of the young, well-educated, ...

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Brett Shumate. Lindsay Simmons. Jonathan Skrmetti. Brandon Smith. Grant Starrett. Daniel Suhr. J.B. Tarter. Mike Toth. Misha Tseytlin. Kevin Turner. Jack Vrett.

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[### 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

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https://atlanticlegal.org › uploads › 2025/04 › 202...](https://atlanticlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2024-ALF-Annual-Report.pdf)

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---

politico

on March 15, just weeks into his new job as the Department of Justice lawyer in charge of immigration litigation, Drew Ensign was called into an unusual Saturday evening court hearing.

The government was preparing to whisk Venezuelan immigrants out of the country, giving them no opportunity to challenge their deportations, and send them to El Salvador’s brutal prison that its government calls the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. When the hearing began at 5 p.m., Ensign said he did not know if the deportations were underway. U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg took a break so Ensign could find out, but when the hearing resumed, Ensign said he still did not know. “I do not have additional details I can provide at this time,” he said.

The judge ordered the government not to deport the immigrants, telling Ensign, “This is something that you need to make sure is complied with immediately.”

Judge James E. Boasberg, pictured above, has ruled that there is probable cause to find the government in criminal contempt of court for its actions during a March hearing in which Ensign represented it. | Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

But it quickly emerged that the government did not comply. Two planes filled with immigrants had taken off from Texas during the break in the hearing, and they landed in El Salvador and discharged their passengers hours after Boasberg issued his order.

As Boasberg investigated whether the government had violated his order, Ensign’s court filings became increasingly combative; he called the judge’s questions a “judicial fishing expedition” and “intrusions into the prerogatives of the Executive Branch.” In a 46-page decision a month later, Boasberg traced the details of the flights, writing that they “were obscured from the Court when the hearing resumed shortly after 6:00 p.m. because the Government” — meaning Ensign — “surprisingly represented that it still had no flight details to share.”

In April, Boasberg ruled that there is probable cause to find the government in criminal contempt of court for what he called its “willful disregard” of his order, an extraordinary rebuke from a judge against a sitting administration. An appeals court issued a stay of Boasberg’s inquiry the same month, and if it eventually moves forward, it remains to be seen who might be found responsible for violating the court order. But one possibility is Ensign.

On June 24, a dismissed Department of Justice whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, shed new light on the Boasberg hearing in a report filed to lawmakers and the Justice Department inspector general. The account, first obtained and published by the New York Times, alleged that Ensign learned the day before the Boasberg hearing that the government would send people to the El Salvador prison that weekend, and that “Ensign willfully misled the court” when he told Boasberg he had no information about the flights.

It’s not yet clear what role Ensign played, if any, in the decision to continue with the deportations despite Boasberg’s order. In a letter he filed to the court on Thursday, Ensign said the government denies the whistleblower account.

Top: A prison officer stands guard in the watchtower with the San Vicente volcano in the background at maximum security penitentiary CECOT (Center for the Compulsory Housing of Terrorism) on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. Bottom: Supporters of Kilmar Abrego, who is the Salvadoran legal immigrant mistakenly deported by the Trump administration in March, hold a rally in support of Abrego in front of the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, before a trial hearing on May 16, 2025. | Alex Peña/Getty Images, top; Samuel Corum for POLITICO

If Ensign is ultimately found to be in contempt — a slim but real possibility — he could be fined, lose his law license or even face prison time. The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment about the possibility of contempt proceedings before publication, but after this article was published, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a statement to POLITICO Magazine, “Drew is a talented attorney, outstanding person, and highly respected member of our team at the Department of Justice who has helped us secure historic wins for the American people.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate also sent statements of support for Ensign.

Ensign did not respond to requests for comment or interviews for this article.

Ensign, deputy assistant attorney general for immigration litigation at DOJ, has become the legal face of the Donald Trump administration’s unprecedented and highly controversial deportations to CECOT. He is also defending the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, in which the government admitted to mistakenly deporting Abrego to the El Salvador prison, in defiance of a previous court order. For weeks, Ensign argued that there was nothing the government could do to retrieve the man and that the judge had no power to order the government to do something.In that case, too, the judge, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, has raised the possibility of contempt proceedings. (On June 6, the government suddenly returned Abrego to the United States; he is facing federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee.)

Before the Department of Justice, Drew Ensign graduated from Duke University and New York University Law School, then went on to spend a decade at the white-shoe law firm Latham & Watkins. | Department of Justice

All of this — the headlines, the angry judges, the defense of an mistaken deportation, the possibility of contempt — comes as a surprise to people who knew Ensign in earlier stages of his career.

Unlike lawyers who fought for Trump in trying to challenge the results of the 2020 election or justify the Jan. 6 insurrection, Ensign does not have the profile of a MAGA true believer. He has never donated to Trump’s campaigns or to notable Trump acolytes.

A graduate of Duke University and New York University Law School, one of the most selective law schools in the country, Ensign went on to spend a decade at the white-shoe law firm Latham & Watkins, representing major corporations.

Those are institutions not known for Trumpiness. Although Latham recently capitulated to Trump, promising $125 million in free legal services to causes the president favors, it previously had a reputation as a non-ideological firm whose lawyers skewed liberal — in last year’s election, about 90 percent of its lawyers’ political donations went to Democrats. But regardless of their individual politics, lawyers at prestigious law schools and selective firms are expected to uphold the rule of law and their professional ethical obligations above all else — which made Ensign’s defense of Trump’s agenda at any cost even more surprising to two former colleagues.

“It’s shocking to see somebody of his caliber and somebody who has been trained at a firm like Latham out there making these arguments,” said a former colleague at the firm, who, like another former Latham colleague and a former classmate, was granted anonymity because they did not want their name or current employer associated with immigration-related controversies.

By choosing to defend an administration that is “way out on a limb and not following the constitution,” the first former colleague said, Ensign was making decisions that would harm his own career and, potentially, the country. “I don’t think there’s anybody who Drew has worked with, who’s been a mentor to Drew, who cares about Drew’s legal career, who would think that he is making really good decisions personally.”

But teaming up with MAGA-world might not be career-ending at all for Ensign, who never reached the pinnacle of the staid world of big law firms. For one, his allies still see the same hard-working Drew in his role today. “Not only is he just brilliant, but he also just has an unbelievable work ethic,” said Jill Holtzman Vogel, managing partner of Holtzman Vogel, a firm where Ensign later worked in Arizona.

And then there’s the possibility that Ensign may not have damaged his career by joining the Trump administration, as some former colleagues and acquaintances suggest. He may have simply found a different way to the top — a path that is becoming increasingly popular in elite fields in the age of Trump.

Trump administration has failed to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Africa

Although Latham recently capitulated to Trump, promising $125 million in free legal services to causes the president favors, it previously had a reputation as a non-ideological firm. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

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The Trump administration is waging war on the legal profession on every front.

He’s issued a raft of executive orders aim to punish private lawyers for doing their jobs. Trump has targeted big law firms for crossing him personally and politically, and he’s treated the representation of disfavored clients — be they immigrants, voting right advocates, or LGBTQ+ service members — as working against the national interest.

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Inside the government, he’s fired attorneys who worked on the special counsel investigations and investigated lawyers who prosecuted January 6 defendants. He’s shredded the Justice Department’s prosecutorial independence, demanding politically-motivated prosecutions and firing attorneys who won’t betray their ethics and go along.

And so it’s incumbent upon us to name and shame the lawyers enabling this wholesale assault.

Obviously high-level Trump officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, and soon-to-be Solicitor General John Sauer will live forever in the pantheon of disgrace. And Ed Martin, the acting US Attorney for DC, will surely be remembered for his ignominious conduct.

But the legal foot soldiers who made this era of lawlessness possible should not escape infamy. The Trump administration could not wage this battle without midlevel and line attorneys willing to do the research, draft the pleadings, and sign their names. Put simply, these people had a choice. They chose to participate in these disgraceful actions, rather than resigning, as so many of their colleagues did. They should be shamed and called out, and we will attempt to update and maintain this list during this administration to make sure that they are.

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Vinita Andrapalliyal is Senior Counsel and the lead line attorney on the briefs inPFLAG v. Trump, a challenge to Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for people 19 and under. The DOJ argued that discriminating against trans people is not discrimination on the basis of sex, and the government’s briefs grossly mischaracterize the science on gender affirming care.

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Michelle Bennett is Assistant Director of the Federal Programs Branch. She has supervisory authority in PFLAG v. Trump, the challenge to Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for people 19 and under.

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Marcia Berman is the Assistant Branch Director of the Civil Division. She has line supervisory authority inAFL v. Dep’t of Labor, which seeks to protect government employees’ data from Elon Musk’s DOGE minions.

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Christian Daniel is a Trial Attorney and is on the briefs in PFLAG v. Trump.

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Drew Ensign is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General and lead counsel onJ.G.G. v. Trump, where he defended kidnapping Venezuelan nationals and sending them to a Salvadoran gulag prison pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act. The government defied Chief Judge James Boasberg’s direct order to “turn those planes around.” Ensign argued that the court’s order did not count until it was memorialized in a writing and that court had no jurisdiction after the planes left US airspace.

In an effort to hide its non-compliance, the government filed a Notice Invoking State Secrets Privilege, signed by Ensign, in which it refused to answer further questions about the removal of the suspected gang members without due process.

Ensign also has supervisory authority in US v. Illinois,the administration’s challenge to Illinois’s sanctuary jurisdiction laws. Courts have consistently upheld such laws under the Tenth Amendment and the anti-commandeering doctrine, but Ensign argues that the statutes are invalid because they “effectively obstruct” the Trump administration’s draconian immigration policies.

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August Flentje is a career DOJ official, currently serving as Acting Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division. He assisted in writing the briefs in J.G.G. v. Trump, described above under the entry for Drew Ensign and US v. Illinois, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Michael Gerardi is Senior Trial Counsel and principal author of the briefs submitted in AFL v. Dep’t of Labor, described above in more detail under the entry for Marcia Berman.

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Patrick Glen is Senior Litigation Counsel, and assisted with the briefs in JGG v. Trump, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Alexander Haas is Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division. He has supervisory authority inAIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State, the lawsuit challenging the shutdown of USAID. In that case, the government deliberately refused to comply with Judge Amir H. Ali’s order to resume paying contractors and grantees, later claiming that it was unable to comply in the time frame set out by the court.

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Christoper Hall is a career Justice Department lawyer, currently serving as Assistant Branch Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division. He has supervisory authority in AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State, described above in more detail under the entry for Alexander K. Haas.

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Eric Hamilton is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He is the lead supervising attorney inNTEU v. Vought, the challenge to President Trump’s efforts to shut down and eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Judge Amy Berman Jackson described the government’s conduct in this case as “so disingenuous that the Court is left with little confidence that the defense can be trusted to tell the truth about anything.”

Hamilton is also a supervising attorney in AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State and U.S. v. Illinois.

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Liam Holland is a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice and the principal author of the pleadings filed in NTEU v. Vought.

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Benjamin Kurland is a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice and one of the drafters of briefs submitted in AFL v. Dep’t of Labor.

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Kirk Manhardt, the Director of the Corporate/Financial Litigation Section, has supervisory authority inClimate United Fund v. Citibank. In that suit, “greenbank” fund grantees are fighting the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to claw back $20 billion allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act based on a deceptively edited Project Veritas video.

The DOJ failed to persuade the court that that the EPA’s terminations arose from a careful, case-by-case analysis, rather than a rightwing smear campaign.

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Elisabeth Neylan is a Trial Attorney with the Federal Programs Branch. She appears on the briefs in U.S. v. Illinois, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Erez Reuveni, an Assistant Director of the Federal Programs Branch, assisted in writing the briefs in J.G.G. v. Trump and U.S. v. Illinois.

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Brad P. Rosenberg is Special Counsel assigned to NTEU v. Vought, described above in more detail under the entry for Eric J. Hamilton.

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Yaakov Roth is the Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division, and is supervisory counsel on a number of the administration’s cases, including: AFL v. Dep’t of Labor, described above in more detail under the entry for Marcia Berman; AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State, described above in more detail under the entry for Alexander K. Haas; J.G.G. v. Trump, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign; Climate United Fund v. Citibank,described above in more detail under the entry for Kirk T. Manhardt; PFLAG v. Trump, described above in more detail under the entry for Vinita B. Andrapalliyal; U.S. v. Illinois, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Marc Sacks is the Deputy Director of the Corporate/Financial Litigation Section at the Department of Justice. He is the lead line attorney on the briefs in Climate United Fund v. Citibank,described above in more detail under the entry for Kirk T. Manhardt.

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Jacqueline Coleman Snead is an Assistant Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division, and appears on the briefs in U.S. v. Illinois, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Indraneel Sur is the lead line attorney on the briefs and at oral argument in AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State, described above in more detail under the entry for Alexander K. Haas.

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Kevin VanLandinghamis an Assistant Director of the Corporate/Financial Litigation Section. He appears on the briefs in Climate United Fund v. Citibank,described above in more detail under the entry for Kirk T. Manhardt.

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Brian C. Ward is an Acting Assistant Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division and assisted in writing the briefs in J.G.G. v. Trump, described above in more detail under the entry for Drew Ensign.

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Lauren Wetzler is Deputy Director of the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division. She has supervisory authority in AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v. Dep’t of State, described above in more detail under the entry for Alexander K. Haas.

Seriously: the reason why we at Law and Chaos can name and shame these assholes is that we’re supported by you, our readers. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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