A Bureau of Prisons policy revision quietly issued on May 6 is drawing intense scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and former Justice Department officials, who warn that it grants acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sweeping personal authority over federal inmate placements — authority they fear could be wielded to reward political allies and punish adversaries.

The revision, issued under Blanche's supervision during his tenure as acting attorney general, permits him to personally designate an inmate's place of imprisonment. Critics told The Bulwark that the change shifts a decision traditionally made by career Bureau of Prisons officials — an agency within the Department of Justice — into the hands of a single political appointee. Blanche previously served as President Donald Trump's personal defense attorney before being appointed to the Justice Department, a background that lawmakers say heightens concerns about political interference.

"The change that was made here is just absolutely stunning in scope and potential impact," said Liz Oyer, a former Justice Department pardon attorney who testified against Blanche and first disclosed the policy shift. "[The change] essentially gives the attorney general the authority to override the entire [116-page classification] manual at his complete discretion."

That manual governs how roughly 150,000 federal inmates are assigned to facilities based on factors including offense severity, criminal history, sentence length, and security needs — a system designed to standardize placements and minimize individual discretion.

Oyer's testimony and related attachments are documented in Senate Judiciary Committee records.

The controversy took on renewed urgency following the disclosure that Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred last year to a minimum-security prison camp — a facility offering amenities such as a service animal and customized meals — just one week after Blanche personally interviewed her about her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump. Former senior Bureau of Prisons officials say Maxwell is the only one of more than 20,000 federal sex offenders to receive such a placement, noting that agency standards were specifically designed to keep sex offenders out of minimum-security camps.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), among several lawmakers who pressed the Bureau of Prisons for answers, argued that the implications extend well beyond Maxwell's individual case and warned that the policy change effectively turns the prison system into another political instrument.

"The moment that political favoritism governs the conditions of confinement, then everyone immediately tries to curry favor with the people in power," Raskin said. "It's a return to monarchical and feudal relationships, where it's all about the fury or the mercy of the king. . . . That's what confinement is like in authoritarian societies."

The Bureau of Prisons has pushed back against the criticism, publicly stating that the Maxwell decision was made independently and without political influence. Agency officials told reporters the policy was intended to formalize authority the attorney general already possessed, in connection with unrelated litigation over death-row commutations.

However, a Bureau spokesperson could not explain how the policy complies with a federal requirement that prisoners of high social status not receive preferential treatment. The agency also could not provide examples of comparable transfers to substantiate its claim that Maxwell's case was not unprecedented.

In written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche stated that he would not use the authority for political purposes but offered no specific safeguards against favoritism. He also did not address the death-penalty litigation that the Bureau had cited as its rationale for the change.

Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) argued that the timeline undermines the Justice Department's explanation, noting that the policy was adopted more than a year after the administration began exercising similar authority — and only after Maxwell's transfer drew intense public scrutiny. Ross said she is now considering legislation to restore exclusive prison-placement authority to career Bureau of Prisons officials, a move that would require congressional action to override the policy.

"If this change was simply meant to reflect existing authority, why was it adopted more than a year after the Trump administration began exercising that authority and only after it was facing litigation and intense public scrutiny over Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a lower security facility?" Ross said.