Main: President Donald Trump listens as Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a roundtable in the White House East Room on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Center inset: Former Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate (DOJ).
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, a Justice Department lawyer who argued major civil cases and signed his name to several of the most contentious matters of President Donald Trump’s second term, has resigned, Attorney General Todd Blanche said Monday.
The Justice Department did not provide a reason for Shumate’s departure from his position as head of its Civil Division. His resignation comes after a series of high-profile exits from the Trump administration following the Republican Party’s losses in the midterm elections.
Other departures include former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ex-counselor Henry Whitaker; Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon; Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney involved in the “grand conspiracy” investigation in the Southern District of Florida; and John Eisenberg, who led the DOJ’s National Security Division.
Shumate argued—and lost—the Justice Department’s tariff case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He later signed a letter warning that overturning Trump’s tariffs would turn the United States into a “dead country” once again.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected those arguments and ruled that the tariffs were unlawful.
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Following an assassination attempt against the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April, Shumate also signed a letter arguing that an architectural historian’s lawsuit seeking to halt construction of Trump’s ballroom placed “the lives of the President, his family, his Cabinet, and his staff, and those of future Presidents” at “avoidable hazard[.]”
The Supreme Court permitted construction of the ballroom to proceed in a 5-4 interim ruling that did not address the case’s merits. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, describing the project as “likely unlawful.”
Shumate also represented the Justice Department in its case involving the deployment of the California National Guard. He served as the Trump administration’s lead advocate in urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to halt a contempt investigation launched by Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg over deportations conducted under the Alien Enemies Act.
Blanche said Monday that he had “accepted” Shumate’s resignation and praised his “leadership” in securing “key wins in lawsuits against local policies that endangered federal law enforcement” and achieving “historic settlements to end illegal corporate DEI practices and shutter[] dozens of clinics which were providing so-called ‘gender affirming care’ to minors.”
“We are grateful for Brett’s service at DOJ and wish him continued success,” the attorney general added.
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