Donations from Justice Department employees still skew heavily Democratic, analysis finds
A Fox News Digital analysis of federal campaign finance records found that just over 75 percent of contributions from people identifying as Justice Department employees went to Democratic committees from January 2025 through August 2026, a share that rose sharply in 2026.
Donations from people who identify as Justice Department employees continue to flow overwhelmingly to Democratic-aligned committees, despite the Trump administration's effort to eliminate what it describes as partisan bias within the department. A Fox News Digital analysis of federal campaign finance records found that just over 75 percent of contributions from individuals listing their employer as the Justice Department went to Democratic committees between January 2025 and August 2026.
The analysis examined roughly $300,000 in political contributions recorded by the Federal Election Commission from donors who listed their employer as "Department of Justice," "DOJ" or a variation of those names. Contributions were categorized by the party affiliation of the recipient candidate or committee, while independent-expenditure committees were classified according to the candidates or parties they supported. To avoid counting duplicate records, the review was limited to unique individual donors.
The partisan tilt has grown more pronounced over the course of the administration. Through 2025, about 70 percent of donations from people identifying as Justice Department staff went to Democratic committees, a share that rose to just under 90 percent in 2026, according to the same findings.
Attorney General Todd Blanche and his predecessor, Pam Bondi, have both argued that the administration inherited a deeply compromised Justice Department, pointing to allegations that the agency was marked by political bias during President Joe Biden's tenure. Bondi said in early 2025 that there were people in the FBI and the Justice Department who despised President Donald Trump and his supporters, and that the administration would root them out and remove them from their posts. Critics of that account have argued that high-profile investigations into Trump and other conservatives stemmed from legitimate legal concerns rather than political weaponization.
The administration has also worked to recruit lawyers whose views align with its agenda. In early February 2026, Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle publicly invited lawyers who "support President Trump" to contact him about becoming federal prosecutors. Stephen Miller amplified the appeal on social media, and sitting U.S. Attorney Jason Quiñones reposted it with the phrase "we are hiring!" Mizelle later defended the approach as ensuring that executive-branch lawyers were in line with the elected president's agenda.
The personnel changes have coincided with a substantial departure of attorneys from federal service. More than 10,000 attorneys have left federal government since Trump began his second term, according to the report. Fox News Digital reported in July that well over 100 federal attorneys had moved to roles in Democratic-run state attorneys general offices. Many of those departing took decades of experience with them, prompting concerns that the administration could lose the capacity to handle highly technical legal matters. Some former federal lawyers have since joined legal action against the administration.
Among the most frequent recipients of donations from people identifying as Justice Department employees were Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Senator Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Emily's List, a group that supports Democratic women candidates who back abortion rights. Some conservative committees, including those in Trump's network of political action committees, also received contributions from Justice Department donors, though far fewer than their Democratic counterparts.
The campaign finance records do not establish whether employees' political preferences have affected the department's day-to-day operations. Much of the department's work involves investigations and prosecutions unrelated to partisan politics. Progressive critics have argued the opposite, alleging that the Trump administration is using the Justice Department to target its political opponents.
A Justice Department spokeswoman previously told Fox News Digital that employees who were fired had been dismissed for a reason, and that those who resigned or accepted the department's "fork in the road" option likely aligned more with the priorities of the Biden administration and would naturally leave during a transition. The spokeswoman said the administration offered that option to career employees to reduce the size of government and eliminate unnecessary layers of staff. The department did not respond to a request for comment on the latest findings.
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