The FBI and the U.S. Justice Department are aggressively overhauling their hiring and promotion practices to compensate for severe staff shortages caused by a wave of firings, retirements, and resignations over the past year. The FBI has shortened its training academy for transfers from other federal agencies, waived written assessments and panel interviews for internal candidates seeking to become agents, and fast-tracked less-experienced staff into senior leadership roles; the Justice Department has meanwhile suspended a rule requiring federal prosecutors to have at least one year of legal experience before joining U.S. attorney's offices. Critics, including former senior officials, warn the changes represent a meaningful erosion of long-held professional standards at institutions responsible for counterterrorism, espionage investigations, and complex criminal prosecutions, while the agencies themselves insist they are modernising bureaucratic processes without compromising core competencies.