Yes, I said "Bush DoJ", not "Obama DoJ". That's not a mistake.
The Department of Justice has fared very badly in the last eight years. First, there was a purge of competent people in favor of Regent University grads, Federalist Society hacks and other people whose ideology counted for more than their actual skills; then there was an exodus of the hacks, either because the law was breathing down their necks or because they wanted the fatter paychecks of the private sector, and Bush didn't bother filling many if not most of the key vacancies.
More on this after the jump.
I remember an online discussion I had some time ago with someone who had an ear to the ground WRT the state of the Justice Department under Bush.
Several folks in the discussion were calling for massive purges of DoJ personnel. However, the legal eagle I knew said: No. NO. We CAN'T do a purge of Bush people at DoJ. We. Just. Can't.
And this is someone who hated Bush with a white-hot passion who was saying this.
Why? Because DoJ is so short-staffed now that they don't have enough staff to do even the simplest prosecutions and other tasks. We have to put up with the burrowers and the wingnuts remaining because they're all that's left -- there aren't enough good people left to run DoJ by themselves and Eric Holder hasn't been around long enough to even begin to start hiring good people, much less get their nominations before Congress.
So if anyone is wondering why so many key decisions are being essentially deferred to be revisited at a later date, this is why.