Attorneys raise concern over questions about Trump policies on federal prosecutors' job applications

A massive wave of departures from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota recently comes at a critical time when there are high-profile investigations and trials looming.

A question for applicants wishing to fill those vacancies is sparking concerns from some attorneys who worry that politics are getting in the way of a once apolitical job. 

Chris Madel, an attorney who once worked in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, said he has seen the prompt on the application himself:  "How would you help advance the president's executive orders and policy priorities in this role?" The New York Times reports that is one of two questions asking prospective hires about how they would implement President Trump's agenda. 

"The job of a federal prosecutor is supposed to be apolitical because the job is to enforce the law and it's not to run some shadow campaign for some politician," Madel said. "I mean, the job description is to enforce the law, not what are you going to do for me?"

Madel, who was tapped for his role in the Department of Justice by a political appointee, said he was never asked about his politics.

"The idea that that would have come into any of the decision-making on any of the cases that I was on — I mean, people would have shut me down faster than you could possibly imagine," he said. 

There are as few as 17 assistant U.S. attorneys in the Minnesota office, sources told CBS News, which is a sharp decline from a high of 70 just a few years ago. 

U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, in a court filing in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals late last month, gave a glimpse into staffing strain, writing that paralegals and lawyers are "continuously working overtime" to respond to habeas corpus petitions by immigrants detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement amid the federal crackdown in Minnesota. 

"To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities," Rosen said. 

In a memo addressed to all employees in February 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote that DOJ attorneys' responsibilities include "not only aggressively enforcing criminal and civil laws enacted by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions against legal challenges on behalf of the United States."

B. Todd Jones, who served two terms as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota under both President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama, said politics were never a consideration when choosing people to serve in the office, likening the selection process to a sports draft where they picked "the best player available."

"We were always looking for the best and the brightest," he said.

He expressed concern about what those types of questions on job applications will mean both for the quality of candidates and administering justice. 

"It's loyalty to the law and Constitution, not blind loyalty to the person who happens to be the chief executive officer of the federal government at the time," he said. 

Madel, who sought the GOP nomination for Minnesota governor before dropping out of the race last month over concerns about the tactics used by immigration agents in the state, said it is incumbent on Republicans and Democrats alike to condemn what he called a "litmus test."

"I'll be damned if somebody is going to tell me that my government is set up for the benefit of one person. It's not — the very beginning of the Constitution is 'We the people.' It's not Mr. Trump," Madel said. 

Jones said the attrition in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office will impact its ability to move forward with cases that under normal circumstances would be deemed a top priority.

Among those who have resigned in recent weeks is Joe Thompson, who led the criminal cases and investigations into widespread fraud in public social safety net programs in the state, and Harry Jacobs, who was the top prosecutor in the case of Vance Boelter, the accused assassin charged with killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their homes last summer. 

Other lead prosecutors who were on fraud cases have also left. Thompson and Jacobs on Monday announced they started their own law practice.

"This is a material number of prosecutors to lose all at one time, and there's no way that this won't impact the office—both in terms of morale, certainly, but just in terms of having people there to get the work done," said Anders Folk, a former first assistant. U.S. attorney in the Minnesota office, during an interview last month about the first wave of resignations.