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The Biden-Harris administration may be attempting to "Trump-proof" the Department of Justice (DOJ) by hiring permanent appointees to some federal positions, according to findings from a watchdog group's public records request.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents obtained by Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) and shared with Fox News Digital show the administration is using an "obscure hiring authority" that bypasses normal hiring processes based on merit to secure DOJ positions that could thwart former President Trump's agenda if he takes office in 2025.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is utilizing Schedule A hiring authority to fill hundreds of attorney and judge positions in career civil service roles without competitive selection, the watchdog group noted.
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"The foundation of our democracy or our republic is the Constitution, and the Constitution vests decision making authority in the executive branch and the president, and then also in principal and inferior officers in the government agencies, so they are supposed to be representing the people," PPT founder and former U.S Department of Education worker Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"The president is elected by the people. Now attempts to fight, whether it comes from career officials inside the government or others outside the government – especially inside the government – to undermine the ability of those principal and inferior officers to make those decisions, that seems to me to be very undemocratic," he said.
According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), while Schedule A is designed to hire individuals with disabilities or for specific roles like chaplains and scientists, it also secures positions beyond the current president's term.
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FBI headquarters on July 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
Although federal law restricts Schedule A appointments from being "policymaking or confidential," they are being used to staff highly "politicized" offices, such as the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), which plays a key role in advancing the Biden-Harris administration's environmental policies and ensuring their continuity even under a potential future administration change.
According to the documents, more than 150 attorneys were placed inside the DOJ’s Anti-Trust Division, and more than 100 immigration judges. Immigration judges determine "whether a noncitizen may remain in the United States or must leave the country," according to the DOJ.
"Until recently, anti-trust enforcement was a relatively technical and non-partisan division. But the Biden-Harris administration’s increasingly aggressive implementation has sparked complaints of politicized enforcement. The administration is also using Schedule A to install immigration judges – again, outside of the normal merit-based system – who will rule on cases of those in a position to benefit from the administration’s immigration policies," PPT said in a news release.
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Schedule A was also used to hire attorneys for ENRD, which is responsible for enforcing environmental laws pertaining to the administration's climate agenda, which includes the "collective pursuit of environmental justice," and upholding the interests of Native American tribes, according to its website.
"The ENRD is a vital office in advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s energy and climate policies, and the placement of Biden-Harris loyalists is a means to defend those policies even if a future Trump (or other) administration seeks to change them," PPT said.
"We were struck mainly by the magnitude of the hires rather than by any individual names," Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain added that certain offices, including ATF, the Office of the Inspector General and the Civil Rights Division, denied sharing records under privacy or related exemptions.
Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in June 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration made it harder to fire federal workers.
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Biden deemed the rule to be "a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people."
The Office of Personnel Management, the government's chief human resources agency, implemented new regulations this year barring career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees, or as other at-will workers, who are more easily dismissed from their jobs. It comes in response to Schedule F, an executive order Trump issued in 2020 that sought to allow for reclassifying tens of thousands of the 2.2 million federal employees and thus reduce their job security protections, according to The Associated Press.
Fox News Digital did not hear back from the White House by publication deadline.
Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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