President Donald Trump made sweeping changes to the criminal justice system in his first hours in office, including replacing the Federal Bureau of Prisons director brought in under the Biden administration and ending former President Joe Biden's plan to phase out privately run federal prisons.

BOP Director Colette Peters, who was appointed then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 and came in with vast reform ideas, was removed by the new Trump administration, Brandy Moore-White, president of the union that represents BOP employees, told Law360 on Tuesday.

The agency that houses over 154,000 inmates and employees nearly 36,000 individuals has dealt with staffing shortages, suicides of incarcerated people, sexual misconduct by inmates and employees, and other issues for years.  

William W. Lothrop, previously deputy director of BOP who is a 30-year-plus veteran of the agency, has taken over as acting director. The BOP director is not subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

"On January 20, 2025, Director Peters separated from the Federal Bureau of Prisons," Lothrop said in a message posted Tuesday on the BOP's website. "As we face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues, I am committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities."

When asked for comment, the BOP directed Law360 to the statement online.

Overall, the new Trump "[executive orders] that were pushed out already are going to affect us greatly," said Moore-White.

Several of the orders take aim at the federal workforce, such as changing the federal hiring process; revoking Biden's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility emphasis for federal employees; instituting a federal hiring freeze; and getting rid of telework.

"We haven't recovered from the hiring freeze from 2017, and a new one is going to be devastating to an agency that is not even really keeping afloat," said Moore-White.

Other executive actions Trump took regarding criminal justice were reinstating the federal death penalty and repealing the executive order Biden issued in January 2021 phasing out the use of private prisons.

Biden's order brought back the Obama-era policy to phase out private prisons, which the Trump administration halted during Trump's first term.

Biden said at the time, "This is the first step to stop corporations from profiting off of incarceration, that is less humane and less safe, as the studies show."

Alexandra Wilkes, spokesperson for the Day 1 Alliance, the trade association that represents The GEO Group and other private sector contractors that work in corrections, told Law360 on Tuesday that Biden's order "was a misguided attempt to blame longtime government contractors for a 'mass incarceration' problem that they play zero role in driving."

Rather, "contractors have been a limited but valued part of the solution to serious challenges facing the U.S. criminal justice system, providing flexible, cost-effective solutions to our government partners for decades — under both Democratic and Republican administrations," said Wilkes.

Trump's nominee for Attorney General Pam Bondi previously lobbied for the company, which Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, raised concerns about at a hearing last week.

Gilbert said other lobbyists have become attorney general, "but nowhere near the scope and scale of Ms. Bondi with 30 clients of her own in just the last five years and coming from a firm that represents such a broad swath of corporate America."

Gilbert took particular issue with The GEO Group, saying federal inspector general reviews have "been critical of prison management by GEO Group and other private prison companies, adding that The GEO Group stands to profit substantially if the Trump administration's new immigration detention and deportation policies result in filling empty or underutilized beds at its facilities."

According to Public Citizen's research shows, "Geo Group's contract dollars rising by just over 40% during the first two years of Trump's first term," she said.

Bondi wrote in her follow-up questions for the record posted online Sunday that if confirmed, she will consult DOJ officials to review "the use and efficacy of private prisons in the federal system." If there is a possible conflict of interest, "I will review the facts, consult with career ethics officials at the department, and will recuse myself whenever appropriate."

--Additional reporting from Stewart Bishop. Editing by Kristen Becker.