A year of chaos inside the Justice Department

November 23, 2025

in 2025, President Trump and his appointees have blasted through the walls designed to protect the Department of Justice from political influence.

They’ve directed the course of criminal investigations, openly flouted ethics rules and created a breakdown of institutional culture. More than 200 attorneys have been fired, and thousands more have resigned.

What was it like inside this institution as Trump’s officials took control? The exodus of lawyers has created an opportunity to understand what’s happening within the agency.

This week in the magazine, Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser told the story of the unraveling of the Justice Department, the product of interviews with more than 60 attorneys who have left the D.O.J. since the start of Trump’s second term.

Stephen Voss for The New York Times

‘It’s a Culture Now of Fear’: A Year of Chaos Inside the Justice Department

Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

By Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser

FEATURES

A woman with long red hair and glasses standing on a ladder in a greenhouse, tending a small tree with yellow fruit. She is wearing a long black dress and a gray-green cardigan. Behind the greenhouse a large tree is full of yellow and orange leaves.

Giulia Mangione for The New York Times

She Has Taken 30 Years to Write a 7-Part Novel About 1 Day. It’s a Sensation.

The Danish author Solvej Balle’s experimental opus reframes the tedium of contemporary life as a source of unexpected wonders.

By Dennis Zhou

Shaboozey holding a microphone in front of a crowd of fans.

Sinna Nasseri for The New York Times

Why Are So Many Pop Stars Trying to Win Over Country Fans? Ask Shaboozey.

For years, the country music star struggled to stake a claim to the version of himself that now seems inevitable.

By Lizzy Goodman

The Interview

John Green Doesn’t Want You to Lose the Magic of Your Teenage Self

The writer and YouTube star on trying to get back to the experiences that make us feel alive.

44 MIN LISTEN

COLUMNS

A photo illustration shows a trucker hat that says OFFENSIVE on it, surrounded by crushed cans, against a blue background.

Photo illustration by Alex Merto

Ideas

Pop Culture Got Stale. Counterculture Went Right-Wing.

How the rise and fall of the nihilist hipster gave us the cruel reactionaries of today.

By Jennifer Szalai

A collage of screenshots from videos of houses collapsing into the ocean.

Photo illustration by Jordan Bohannon

Screenland

Houses Collapsing Into the Sea? It’s Not as Baffling as It Looks.

Viewers seem baffled by viral videos of homes left to tumble into the ocean. But this is how we approach a growing range of “stranded” assets.

By Brooke Jarvis

Illustration by David Huang

Letter of recommendation

The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books

Learning is painful, pleasant and, above all, communal.

By Sebastian Castillo

Illustration by Tomi Um

the ethicist

Do Kink Encounters Have to Count as Cheating?

My desires won’t go away, but my partner’s not interested. Is there an ethical way to explore them?

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

Illustration by Tomi Um

the ethicist

An Acquaintance Might Be a Racist. Do I Need to Drop Him?

I included him in an Instagram story before I knew. Should I have deleted it?

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

An illustration of John Hodgman in judge’s robes, holding a gavel.

Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy

Judge John Hodgman

Should You Dry Someone Else’s Abandoned Laundry?

A ruling on a dispute over wet clothing.

By John Hodgman

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