FBI and DOJ lower hiring standards to fill workforce gutted by resignations and firings
The FBI and the Justice Department are relaxing long-standing hiring requirements to fill workforce gaps created by a wave of departures, according to the Associated Press. The FBI has used social media campaigns to attract applicants, offered abbreviated training for candidates transferring from other federal agencies, and relaxed requirements for support staff seeking to become agents. The Justice Department has suspended a policy requiring U.S. attorneys offices to hire prosecutors with at least one year of experience and has opened hiring to recent law school graduates. The department has lost nearly 1,000 assistant U.S. attorneys, and a National Security Division section handling espionage cases has seen a 40 percent drop in prosecutors. Current and former officials told AP they view the changes as a lowering of professional standards.
The load-bearing figure, per a single AP investigation, unconfirmed on the record by any DOJ or FBI official, is the 40 percent reduction in the NSD section handling espionage cases. Counterintelligence prosecutions require years of case build-up, and a depleted prosecutor bench very likely translates into slower indictment cycles across FARA,