Photo via CBS News

Top lawyer in DOJ's Civil Division is latest in string of resignations

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Lynch, S. N. (2026, November 9). Top lawyer in DOJ's Civil Division is latest in string of resignations. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-lawyer-justice-department-civil-division-brett-shumate-resigns/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-11-09 · by Sarah N. Lynch

Quick Summary

Brett Shumate, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, resigned on Monday. This follows recent departures of other high-ranking officials since Democrats regained control of Congress in mid-term elections. Shumate was praised by Attorney General Todd Blanche for his efforts to challenge sanctuary policies and win lawsuits against local policies endangering federal law enforcement. The article highlights the chaos within the Justice Department under President Trump, with the Civil Division defending controversial executive actions and aggressive deportation policies.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Brett Shumate, head of the Justice Department's Civil Division, resigned on Monday, becoming the fourth Senate-confirmed official to leave their position since the midterm elections. This follows resignations by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon and U.S. Attorneys John Eisenberg and Jason Reding Quiñones in recent days. Shumate previously directed the division under President Trump's first term, focusing on challenging corporate diversity initiatives, healthcare clinics treating transgender minors, and local administrations that declined to assist with immigration enforcement. Attorney General Todd Blanche highlighted key civil litigation outcomes from the past two years under the Trump administration in a social media post announcing Shumate’s departure.

Written for “DOJ Leadership Shakeup Continues” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence medium
Leaning: leans left for article 140074 (medium confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-10

Story

DOJ Leadership Shakeup Continues
Politics · 5 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Just The News
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 95/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 5052 article(s) · 9 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 9 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sarah N. Lynch
37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
The Civil Division has also had to contend with a this year from detained immigrants, after a Justice Department-run immigration court made a sweeping determination that the government could essentially detain a large swath of immigrants indefinitely while their removal proceedings are pending.
Her memo broadened the scope of the kinds of crimes that might be pursued as domestic terrorism cases, such as doxxing members of law enforcement or parading with the intent to obstruct the administration of justice.
However, they later admitted in court that the Justice Department intended to share the information with the Department of Homeland Security so they could use it for criminal and immigration enforcement purposes.
The subpoenas are the latest effort by the Justice Department to pressure California to set aside some 20,000 ballots that it claims were mailed to ahead of Tuesday's election.State and local officials have declined to do so, saying they have concerns with the accuracy of the federal government's list and fear that segregating the ballots could disenfranchise legitimate voters.
"We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation," he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Leider, who previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is expected to return to his previous role as a law professor at George Mason University 's Antonin Scalia Law School, the ATF added.
The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas to state and local officials in California, escalating a dispute over allegations by the federal government that the state may have as many as 20,000 non-citizens registered to vote ahead of the midterm elections, according to sources with direct knowledge and copies seen by CBS News.
Former DOJ officials say Attorney General Todd Blanche's Justice Department has entered uncharted waters in ways that could influence politics as voters cast ballots, in contravention of long-standing policies and practices.
But the government has treated him like part of the prosecutorial team itself, choosing to allow F-9 to decide which of the documents, recordings, and photographs in his possession he will produce, and how and when he will produce them," SPLC's attorneys wrote.
Also by Sarah N. Lynch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 37 articles by Sarah N. Lynch →

Topics

Senate Texas U.S. the Civil Division the Justice Department's

Subjects

Shumate PERSON · 6× the Civil Division ORG · 5× Trump PERSON · 4× Senate ORG · 3× CBS News ORG · 2× Texas GPE · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× the Justice Department ORG · 2× the Justice Department's ORG · 2× Civil Division ORG · 1×

Narrative

It has also defended controversial and aggressive mass deportation policies, as well as a number of controversial renovation projects that Mr. Trump has personally directed, including efforts to tear down the White House's East Wing and replace it with a ballroom, and overhauls of the Kennedy Center and the East Potomac Golf Course.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
The Civil Division has also had to contend with a this year from detained immigrants, after a Justice Department-run immigration court made a sweeping determination that the government could essentially detain a large swath of immigrants indefinitely while their removal proceedings are pending.

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

The top lawyer in the Justice Department's Civil Division resigned on Monday, marking the latest in a wave of departures since Democrats won back control of both the House and Senate in the midterm elections. asserted
Democrats → resign → elections
Brett Shumate, the assistant attorney general of the Civil Division, tendered his resignation on Monday, leaving behind a division that has been struggling to keep pace as it defends the federal government in a flurry of lawsuits since President Trump took office. asserted
Trump → tender → office
Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement on X, praised Shumate for pursuing "important affirmative litigation to challenge sanctuary policies" and for "delivering key wins in lawsuits against local policies that endangered federal law enforcement." asserted
that → praise → enforcement
Last week, the assistant attorneys general for the Justice Department's and divisions also departed, leaving those key offices without Senate-confirmed leadership as well. asserted
general → depart → leadership
The U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida who was overseeing the so-called "grand conspiracy" investigation into Obama and Biden-era intelligence officials .T. Elliot Gaiser, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel, meanwhile, is being considered by Mr. Trump to be nominated to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, according to a Senate aide, who confirmed that the Justice Department had submitted his nomination paperwork. uncertain
Department → oversee → paperwork
The Office of Legal Counsel offers legal advice to the executive branch, issuing opinions on thorny legal questions. asserted
Office → offer → questions
Gaiser has authored controversial legal opinions such as the classified legal justification for the U.S. military's boat strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers. asserted
Gaiser → author → traffickers
He does not appear to have any direct ties to Texas, apart from a one-year clerkship in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. asserted
He → appear → Circuit
Shumate, a former partner at the law firm Jones Day, was widely seen by attorneys in the Civil Division as a reasonable and "decent" leader at a time when chaos has descended on the Justice Department, forcing it to adopt often novel or controversial legal positions to defend the government from hundreds of lawsuits. asserted
chaos → see → lawsuits
He also served in the Civil Division during Mr. Trump's first term in office. asserted
He → serve → office
Under Shumate's leadership, the department has fought to defend countless firings of career civil servants, many of whom received no explanation other than a letter citing Article II of the U.S. Constitution. asserted
many → fight → Constitution
It has also defended controversial and aggressive mass deportation policies, as well as a number of controversial renovation projects that Mr. Trump has personally directed, including efforts to tear down the White House's East Wing and replace it with a ballroom, and overhauls of the Kennedy Center and the East Potomac Golf Course. asserted
Trump → defend → Center
The Civil Division has also had to contend with a this year from detained immigrants, after a Justice Department-run immigration court made a sweeping determination that the government could essentially detain a large swath of immigrants indefinitely while their removal proceedings are pending. uncertain
proceedings → have → immigrants
Lawyers in the Civil Division were taken by surprise by the abrupt and unexpected nature of Shumate's resignation, which was effective immediately, sources told CBS News. asserted
sources → take → News
His departure comes after Stephen Miller late last week was named as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. asserted
Miller → come → Wiles
One source familiar with the matter told CBS News that Miller has been critical of Shumate in the past and believes he is not aggressive enough, and this was a factor in Shumate's decision to step down. asserted
this → tell → decision
Give feedback · no sign-in needed

No sign-in needed for now. Your note is sent without a name, so it cannot be answered.

History Support