In a Thursday shakeup of the U.S. president’s cabinet, former President Donald Trump has removed Pam Bondi from her post as Attorney General, ending a tenure marked by growing friction between the two over her handling of high-profile cases and perceived lack of aggression against Trump’s political rivals.
Trump made the announcement official via a post on his Truth Social platform, confirming Bondi’s departure and noting she would transition to a new role in the private sector, which he framed as an “important new job.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will step into the role on an interim basis while the White House weighs candidates for a permanent appointment. Among the top contenders currently under discussion is Lee Zeldin, a staunch Trump loyalist who currently leads the Environmental Protection Agency.
The ouster follows months of mounting public and private discontent from Trump over Bondi’s performance. Trump publicly raised complaints as early as September last year, arguing Bondi had failed to move aggressively enough to prosecute leading political opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. After Trump’s public rebuke, the Department of Justice did move forward with charges against Comey and James, but a federal judge ultimately dismissed both cases in November.
A core point of contention that predated the complaints about political prosecutions was Bondi’s management of public disclosures related to the Jeffrey Epstein files. Dating back to last summer, Bondi has faced sustained criticism for the mishandling of the document release, with even close Trump ally Susie Wiles acknowledging that Bondi “completely whiffed” her response to the controversy, according to a prior Politico report. Congressional Democrats have gone further, accusing Bondi of leading a deliberate cover-up that protected powerful figures connected to the case—including Trump—while endangering Epstein survivors by exposing their identifying information during the redaction process.
In an additional unconfirmed allegation from The Daily Mail, which cited an anonymous senior Trump administration source, Trump’s decision to remove Bondi was also fueled by a belief that she tipped off Congressman Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and vocal Trump critic who is currently running for governor of his home state, to impending FBI document releases related to a decade-old investigation into Swalwell’s past connection to Christine Fang, an alleged Chinese spy. The source claimed Bondi intervened to block the document release due to a personal friendship with Swalwell, a development that left White House leadership deeply dissatisfied.
Democratic lawmakers have already made clear that Bondi’s ouster will not end their oversight efforts. House Oversight Committee top Democrat Robert Garcia of California announced Thursday that Bondi remains legally compelled to testify under oath before the panel, in compliance with a subpoena the committee approved last month. Garcia reiterated Democratic accusations that Bondi weaponized the Department of Justice to shield Trump and harmed Epstein survivors, adding that investigations into Bondi and other Trump administration officials will continue regardless of their departure from cabinet roles.
Other leading congressional Democrats echoed sharp criticism of Bondi’s tenure. Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal called out Bondi’s refusal to apologize to Epstein survivors for the exposure of their identities, noting Bondi had previously dismissed calls for an apology as “getting into the gutter,” and responded to the firing with “Good riddance.” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren similarly criticized Bondi’s leadership, accusing the former attorney general of doling out corporate merger approvals as political favors and writing on social media that “Under AG Pam Bondi, the DOJ became a cesspool of corruption. Good riddance.”
Watchdog groups have also condemned Bondi’s time at the Department of Justice. Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert argued Thursday that Bondi pulled the department in a lawless, unindependent direction that damaged the integrity of the U.S. justice system. “No one can be loyal enough. No one can punish Trump’s enemies fast enough,” Gilbert said, adding that Bondi had trivialized both the Department of Justice and the sanctity of the rule of law itself.