Cecilia Lei

That's Paul Bloom, a reporter with a local Fox affiliate in Minneapolis, reading a much-talked-about quote from Julie Lee.

She's a Department of Homeland Security lawyer brought into the U.S.

Attorney's Office in Minnesota to handle what's been described as a crushing caseload.

Sadie Gurman is the Wall Street Journal's Justice Department reporter.

She told us Lee's frustration vocalized what many federal prosecutors have been privately feeling.

It also underscores a much deeper problem.

Justice Department officials have had to bring in reinforcements from other cities and government agencies, even enlisting military lawyers to handle what would typically be the work of civilian prosecutors.

Gurman said there's another plan in the works as well.

Lee's posting was temporary, and she has since returned to her old job.

The Minneapolis U.S.

Attorney's Office that she had worked in had fewer than 20 attorneys, down from 55 last year, according to the Journal.

Since the Trump administration launched its massive deportation effort in the city, it has been hit with more than 500 petitions from immigrants challenging the legality of their detentions.

The backlog ends up being a significant issue for plaintiffs in the cases.

Anders Folk, a former acting U.S.

attorney in Minnesota, shared with Fox 9 what he had been hearing recently.

A DOJ spokesperson attributed some of the strain to judges not applying the law properly under the Biden administration.

Harmful chemicals appear to be showing up more and more in water that tens of millions of Americans rely on.

They're called PFAS, and they're known as forever chemicals because of their extreme resistance to breaking down.

They've become a big problem for private drinking wells, which aren't subject to the same regulation as water from public utilities.

Michael Phyllis is a reporter with the Associated Press.