The Trump administration canceled a Justice Department recruiting program for young lawyers at prestigious colleges and revoked recent job offers, according to a report.
President Donald Trump scrapped the Attorney General’s Honors Program that had been in place since 1953, sources familiar with the cancellation told the Washington Post. The department’s website describes the program as the “nation’s premier entry-level federal attorney recruitment program,” attracting candidates from top law schools across the country.
The reason for tossing out the program wasn’t immediately clear. But emails obtained by the newspaper reveal that the administration cited the executive order Trump signed Monday that froze the hiring of federal employees.
“Pursuant to the hiring freeze announced Jan. 20, 2025, your job offer has been revoked,” the emails said, The Washington Post reported. The messages were sent from the Justice Department’s Office of Attorney Recruitment & Management.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for more information.
It’s not immediately clear how many people were hired only to have their job offers revoked, but more than 100 often receive an offer each year, according to the Post.
The lawyers were interviewed for the positions toward the end of the Biden administration and accepted their positions after Trump’s election victory, according to the Post. This is consistent with the Justice Department’s FAQ, which states that most offers “will be made from late November through December, but the process often extends into January and beyond.”
The program hires recent law school graduates and young lawyers who entered judicial clerkships, graduate law programs, or qualifying legal fellowships within nine months of law school graduation.
The lawyers in the program typically are hired for two years before being offered permanent jobs, the outlet reported. Young lawyers accepted into the program would have been placed in the antitrust, civil, civil rights and criminal divisions, according to the department website.
