DOJ eliminated its Community Relations Service, the "Peacemakers" civil-rights mediation office, via mass layoff notices

On Sept. 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice issued reduction-in-force notices to the remaining employees of its Community Relations Service (CRS), eliminating the office as a standalone unit within the department. CRS — created by Title X of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and nicknamed "America's Peacemakers" — employed conciliators who mediated racial, ethnic, and community tensions nationwide, including a deployment to Minneapolis during Derek Chauvin's 2021 trial after the murder of George Floyd. The department's separate Office for Access to Justice received layoff notices the same day. At the time of the cuts CRS had roughly 56 to 57 employees; the department's FY2026 budget document stated CRS would "formally close all its offices by the end of FY 2025" and that no funding had been included for the office going forward.

Justice Department officials said CRS's mission "does not comport with Attorney General and Administration law enforcement and litigating priorities." Civil-rights organizations, including the Ethical Society of Police and local NAACP chapters, sued in federal court in Boston, arguing the unilateral dismantling of a congressionally created office violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Administrative Procedure Act, and separation of powers; nearly 100 congressional Democrats backed the challenge.

Updates

2025-10-30 — Federal judge declined to block CRS layoffs pending litigation [3]

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction blocking the CRS layoffs, but found they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that only Congress may eliminate a congressionally created agency; she ruled they had not shown the irreparable harm needed to justify an injunction while the case proceeds.

2026-01-09 — DOJ rescinded layoff notices for 12 of 13 remaining CRS employees [4, 5]

The Justice Department's human-resources office sent letters rescinding the September RIF notices for all but one of the 13 employees still terminated, telling them they could return to work by Feb. 9, 2026 with back pay and benefits retroactive to Nov. 2, 2025. In a Jan. 13, 2026 court filing, the department said it was reinstating the employees "as a matter of administrative discretion" but did not say whether they would resume CRS functions or whether the office itself would be reestablished; the rescissions followed a bipartisan congressional spending deal proposing to restore CRS funding for fiscal 2026.