Justice Department bracing for more resignations in Minnesota

By Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department is bracing for a new wave of resignations in the Minnesota federal prosecutors’ office over recent immigration enforcement efforts in the state, sources familiar with the matter said.

Prosecutors threatened to resign during a recent meeting in which US Attorney Daniel Rosen had tried to convince his office to get on board with the Trump administration’s efforts in Minnesota, the sources said. His plea so far hasn’t assuaged concerns within the office that the administration is taking potentially unlawful steps.

One of the sources said that if the resignations came to fruition, they could decimate the US Attorney’s office as they are pursuing cases against immigrants and protesters, and pile onto an already thin staff after an earlier wave of resignations over how the Justice Department responded to a federal officer’s shooting of Renee Good.

The meeting and potential resignations are being watched closely by Justice Department officials in Washington, and the department has been taking steps to pull prosecutors from other Midwestern offices into Minnesota to help. The Justice Department declined to comment for this story.

Attorney General Pam Bondi was in Minnesota on Wednesday, her second trip in as many weeks. At least some of her meetings there were to boost morale at the US Attorney’s office, according to a person familiar with the visits.

Justice Department prosecutors from other states are in Minnesota to assist the office while it is understaffed, and the department could request more. Previous resignations this month included some leaders in the office beneath Rosen. The Pentagon is also sending dozens of military lawyers to Minneapolis to assist in federal prosecutions.

Also on Wednesday, the chief judge of the federal district court in Minnesota complained in a sharply worded order that he believes Homeland Security officials were violating court orders by the dozens this month in cases related to immigrants in custody.

The court and the US attorney’s office prosecutors are fielding search and arrest warrants related to protests as well as immigrant detainees’ requests for relief, leading to increased tensions between prosecutors and judges.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.