Three top Justice Department officials resign after midterm losses
Photo: Getty ImagesThree senior Justice Department officials have resigned in the two days since Democrats swept the midterm elections, winning control of both the House and the Senate — the latest departures in a post-election shake-up that now reaches the White House itself.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a social media post on Friday that he had submitted his resignation. Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the departure on X, thanking Quiñones for his leadership in combating violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and transnational crime.
John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general who leads the department's National Security Division, also resigned on Friday. Blanche said he had accepted Eisenberg's resignation, praising his service in strengthening the nation's ability to address threats at home and abroad. All three of the departing officials held Senate-confirmed roles.
The pair followed Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the department's Civil Rights Division, whose resignation was announced on Thursday. Dhillon told USA TODAY that "these jobs are tough" and that she had informed Blanche in her resignation letter that she had "accomplished what I came to do."
Quiñones's office in Miami was at the center of the administration's efforts to use the Justice Department against President Donald Trump's political adversaries. It was tasked with running the so-called "grand conspiracy" investigation into the officials who investigated Trump's handling of classified documents after he left office in 2021 and his campaign's contacts with Russia in the 2016 election. No criminal charges have been filed as a direct result of the probe, and Joseph diGenova, the former Reagan Justice Department official who had been overseeing it, resigned in September.
Eisenberg's division was involved in some of the department's most controversial actions, including an unusual raid on a Washington Post reporter's home as part of a leak investigation. It also secured a guilty plea from John Bolton, the former Trump national security adviser turned prominent critic, in a criminal case over his handling of classified information. Bolton's sentencing is upcoming.
Dhillon dramatically reshaped the Civil Rights Division during her 18 months in the job, dropping lawsuits accusing police departments of civil rights violations and directing investigations into potential racial preferences in employment and university admissions, religious liberty issues and local limits on gun ownership. She said on a Breitbart News podcast in August 2025 that about 300 of the division's 400 lawyers had left since Trump retook office.
It is not clear why Quiñones or Eisenberg resigned, and it is not unusual for senior officials to leave government after a midterm election, especially one that delivers a sharp setback to the party in power. But the department now faces a new political reality: with Democrats set to control Congress next year, it can expect heightened scrutiny from congressional committees, and Democrats have already promised a raft of investigations into the Trump administration. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, posted "LAWYER UP" on social media on November 3 as the midterm results came in.
A department spokesperson told USA TODAY that the Justice Department's mission has not changed since the midterms and that it remains focused on enforcing the law, combating crime and protecting Americans.
The three Justice Department leaders are not the only Trump officials to exit top roles this week. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles announced in a social media post on Friday that she is leaving her position as well, and Trump has named Stephen Miller to replace her starting Monday.
Sources: USA Today, "Three Justice Department officials resign following midterms" (Nov. 6, 2026); Reuters, "Two top Justice Department officials resign as post-election exodus accelerates" (Nov. 6, 2026); The Associated Press, "2 Justice Department officials resign, including US attorney who oversaw 'grand conspiracy' probe" (Nov. 6, 2026); Bloomberg Law, "DOJ National Security, Conspiracy Probe Leaders Step Down" (Nov. 6, 2026).
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