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The DOJ’s big screwups, briefly explained
Basic lawyering mistakes are impeding Trump’s agenda.
Cameron Peters is a staff editor at Vox.
Welcome to The Logoff: It has been a bad week for President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, after basic lawyering mistakes set back the president’s agenda on two fronts.
What happened? On Tuesday, Texas’s new congressional map was struck down by a Trump-appointed judge as a racial gerrymander. That decision isn’t the final word on the case, as the Supreme Court could still weigh in — but, as my colleague Ian Millhiser reports, it’s quite possible SCOTUS will side with the lower court due to a glaring misreading of case law by Trump’s DOJ.
Subsequently, on Wednesday, we found out that Trump’s political prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey may be fundamentally flawed, thanks to procedural errors by interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan in presenting the indictment to a grand jury.
What does this mean for Trump? The biggest impact could be in Texas, where the loss of the state’s new maps — part of a broader Trump redistricting campaign that already wasn’t going well — could tip the 2026 House map toward Democrats by five seats.
The DOJ’s failure in the Comey case, meanwhile, is symbolically important, if arguably less significant in the big picture. (And, to be clear, we still don’t know for sure what will happen with his case, though it had significant flaws from the start.) Trump targeted Comey as part of a fairly explicit retaliation campaign, and a self-inflicted failure would be a blow to that campaign.
Why does all of this matter? This isn’t just a story about two high-profile, embarrassing failures by the Justice Department. The DOJ is a massive, traditionally nonpartisan agency with a broad constellation of law enforcement responsibilities. The hollowing out of its career staff through layoffs, firings, resignations, and the installation of loyalists like Halligan — to the point where these kinds of failures can happen — is a real loss.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Hi readers, two things before we log off. First, my colleagues at Vox’s Future Perfect just launched the 2025 Future Perfect 25. The annual series is a spotlight on people who are doing important work to make the world a better place. This year, they featured 25 activists, organizers, and thinkers who are keeping progress on global health and development alive, even as global aid spending slumps. You can read all about the honorees here.
Second, a little bit of sports joy: This week’s men’s World Cup qualifiers have been sensational, and a few moments have especially stood out. Two of my favorites are from Sunday, when Ireland scored an incredible last-minute goal to stay alive for a play-in bid, and from last night, when Scotland made it back for the first time in almost three decades. But the most affecting might be Haiti’s qualification on Tuesday for the first time since 1974, a particularly joyful moment for a country that has experienced some of the worst strife imaginable this year.
As always, thanks for reading, have a great evening, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
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