Attorney General Pam Bondi received the second pink slip of Donald Trump’s second administration, following former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem out the door. Trump had been complaining about his AG for months, so the only shocking thing is that he waited so long to fire her. Bondi found out on the presidential limo ride to the Supreme Court last Wednesday, but the president made it official Thursday afternoon.
Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900. We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
For her part, Bondi took it as well as could be expected, saying in her own statement that she’s “eternally grateful” for the role and that she’s planning to “continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration.” We’ll see if there’s a book deal in her future.
Rumor has it that Trump is considering EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for the role. Zeldin has done outstanding work at the EPA, and it would be a shame to lose him there, though he certainly has potential as AG. Other names being floated include U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump will also likely be evaluating Blanche to see if he’s up to the job on a permanent basis. Time will tell.
When Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was nominated to serve as Trump’s AG, she was an obvious upgrade over his first pick, Matt Gaetz. Mark Alexander called her “highly qualified in terms of experience, tenacity, character, and integrity.”
I praised her for deftly parrying Democrat attacks in her confirmation hearings, while also offering a warning of sorts:
With the exception of four years since 2009, the Justice Department has been run by Democrats who aim to weaponize every agency of government to achieve their ends. Assuming Bondi roots out those operatives, the temptation to retribution would be hard to deny. In some cases, true justice will demand action. In others, the wiser course may be to move on. Judging the difference will be critically important.
Despite her qualifications and character, the job of fulfilling her promise to end the weaponization of the Justice Department proved too difficult. She cleaned house of scores of prosecutors, which was welcome. Yet Trump clearly wants retribution, and she was more willing to do that than his first-term AGs, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr.
Regarding charges for political enemies, Trump posted a message on social media last year that was allegedly supposed to be private — “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.” In short order, Bondi brought charges against Trump nemeses James Comey and Letitia James, but a court dismissed both cases and grand juries also rejected charges. In the end, the lawfare push damaged the DOJ more than Trump’s foes.
More relevant to her departure, however, was her performance related to the Jeffrey Epstein debacle. In February 2025, she promised a blockbuster reveal, but her rollout of the files was a total dud and a major failure. Trump brought it up frequently to other advisers, and she never really recovered his trust, but he likely didn’t fire her last year to avoid giving Democrats the satisfaction of a scalp.
Bondi is slated to testify before Congress on the subject on April 14. It’s unlikely that Democrats will give her a pass just because she got fired.
Ultimately, Bondi is out because she couldn’t achieve what Trump wanted — punishment for his political enemies — though it wasn’t for lack of trying. The desire to give certain people their just desserts is understandable, but the smooth operators who tormented Trump over the last several years did so in ways that are tough to prove were criminal. Even charging them, much less securing convictions, was an impossible mission for Bondi.
