Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly promised to crack down on crime, terrorists, and drug traffickers.
Records obtained by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act show the agencies responsible for those promises have lost more than 4,000 employees on his watch.
The losses are spread across multiple departments.
The FBI is down more than 7%, a reduction of roughly 2,600 people. The DEA has dropped 6%. The ATF has lost 14% of its workforce. The National Security Division, which handles terrorism and espionage, has lost nearly 38% of its staff.
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The tough-on-crime administration has been running a soft-on-staffing operation.
Federal prosecutions for drug trafficking also fell to their lowest level in more than two decades last year, with even fewer cases being brought in 2026. The figures come from Justice Department management records and provide the most detailed accounting of the reductions so far.
The Justice Department rejected the criticism.
Spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre said, without offering evidence, that buyouts allowed the agency to remove people who “did not want to aggressively and faithfully tackle crime to protect the American people.”
She added that the drop in the murder rate means “any suggestion that this reduction in force has hampered our ability to tackle violent crime is not based in reality.” The staffing levels and the murder rate remain separate measures. The statement did not address that distinction.
Inside the FBI, pressure on staffing is visible.
The agency has been working through retirements, resignations, and firings of agents deemed insufficiently loyal to the administration.
Some current and former agents say leadership roles are being filled with less experienced personnel than usual. “It’s a sign of, among other things, the difficulty the department is having right now in keeping and recruiting people,” said Greg Brower, a former senior FBI official.
Across the Justice Department, the reductions are broader.
The Civil Rights Division has lost more than half its staff. The environmental law section is down by about a third. The Bureau of Prisons, already described by its own watchdog as facing a “staffing crisis,” has shed more than 2,200 employees.
The inmate population has remained largely unchanged.
One prison official, speaking anonymously, said some guard posts are now unfilled, with teachers and nurses reassigned to cover gaps.
Several programs have also been shut down entirely.
The administration closed the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, the Community Relations Service, and the Office for Access to Justice.
Former DOJ lawyer Stacey Young said, “The administration talks a big game when it comes to crime and terrorism, but the fact that it’s hollowing out agencies tasked with addressing them shows that they don’t stand behind their words.”
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
