Attorney General Mayes Condemns Trump Administration's Gutting of Federal Law Enforcement

Records Reveal 4,000+ Law Enforcement Jobs Eliminated While Trump Claimed to Be Tough on Crime

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes today issued the following statement in response to the release of federal records, obtained by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act, revealing that the Trump administration has eliminated more than 4,000 positions across the nation's top federal law enforcement agencies — even as the President has repeatedly promised to crack down on crime.

"The Trump administration has been lying to the American people. You cannot claim to be tough on crime while systematically dismantling the agencies that fight it,” said Attorney General Mayes. “When the federal government cuts thousands of law enforcement positions like the Trump administration has done over the past year, the burden falls on state and local law enforcement agencies that are already stretched thin. I am grateful for the partnerships we have with those who remain at federal agencies and help keep Arizonans safe, but these cuts make that work harder. You cannot expect the same results with a fraction of the federal workforce." 

According to records obtained by Reuters from the Justice Department:

• The FBI has lost more than 2,600 employees — a drop of over 7% since fiscal year 2024.
• The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has lost approximately 6% of its workforce, even as fentanyl and meth and other illicit drugs devastate Arizona communities.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has cut roughly 14% of its staff as firearms are increasingly being trafficked illegally from the US to Mexico. 
• The DOJ's National Security Division — which handles terrorism and espionage cases — has lost nearly 38% of its personnel, with its Congressional budget request citing "unprecedented personnel constraints.”

According to reports, these cuts have led to the lowest level of federal prosecutions for drug trafficking in over two decades. And additional reporting by ProPublica shows that the DOJ quietly closed over 23,000 cases last year, "abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses." While state and local agencies have had to pick up slack from federal law enforcement, the Trump Administration has sought to defund over $800 million in local law enforcement and public safety grants.

“We need more robust support from the federal government in Arizona to go after the drug cartels pushing poison into our communities, as well as to combat fraud, waste, and abuse and other white collar crimes,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Instead, the Trump administration has pushed highly-qualified career law enforcement agents out of their jobs by the thousands and it will only make all of us less safe. This administration has quite literally defunded the police.”