WASHINGTON — The FBI is easing hiring requirements, accelerating recruitment and launching social media campaigns to attract applicants as it works to rebuild its workforce after a wave of departures over the past year. The Justice Department has also opened the door to hiring prosecutors directly out of law school to fill vacancies in U.S. attorneys' offices across the country.

Departures were prompted in part by concerns over the Trump administration's politicization of the department, which fired lawyers, agents and other employees deemed insufficiently loyal to the president's agenda. The Justice Department has lost nearly 1,000 assistant U.S. attorneys, and a National Security Division section handling espionage cases has reported a 40% drop in prosecutors. The number of lawyers in the Criminal Division's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section is down, and that section is looking to hire additional attorneys.

Under FBI Director Kash Patel's leadership, the bureau tweaked elements of its recruitment regimen over the past year. In fall 2025, Patel announced that transfers from other agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, could complete a nine-week training academy instead of the traditional four-month academy. The FBI will also waive a written assessment and a three-member panel interview for support staff employees seeking to become agents, though onboard employees must still obtain recommendations from a senior leader and complete training at Quantico, Virginia. Patel said in January that applications had increased by 112%.

"We are not lowering standards or removing qualifications in any way. What we are doing is streamlining the process to remove duplicative, bureaucratic steps to the application system for onboard employees," the FBI said in a statement. The bureau added that "These are changes based on a wide variety of feedback from successful agents with over 20 years' experience," the FBI said.

The FBI also faces turnover among senior leaders, including special agents in charge of its 56 field offices. Patel fired some over the past year and others retired. The bureau has promoted assistant special agents in charge into those roles and has allowed employees to be considered for leadership positions without requiring extensive headquarters experience.

"As a field agent, you have a field agent's mentality, you have a field agent's view," said Chris Piehota, a retired FBI senior executive. "Without adequate headquarters experience, you don't know the business side of the FBI, the logistical side of the FBI or the political jungle that can accompany the job," he added.

The Justice Department separately suspended a policy that U.S. attorneys' offices only hire prosecutors with at least one year of experience practicing law. "We are proud to empower young and passionate prosecutors and offer attorneys at every level the opportunity to invest their talents into keeping their communities safe," the department said in a statement.

"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 U.S. attorney in Nevada who left the FBI in 2018 as its chief congressional liaison.