UPDATE
Feb 5, 2025 11:20 AM CST
Pam Bondi was sworn in Wednesday as attorney general, taking charge of the Justice Department as it braces for upheaval. The ceremony took place in the Oval Office and marked the first time President Trump has participated in a second-term swearing-in of a Cabinet member—further evidence of his intense personal interest in the operations of the department that investigated him during his first term and then brought two since-abandoned indictments after he left office in 2021, reports the AP. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office, and Bondi told the president, "I will make you proud and I will make this country proud. I will restore integrity to the Justice Department and I will fight violent crime throughout this country and throughout this world, and make America safe again."
Feb 4, 2025 7:43 PM CST
The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as US attorney general Tuesday evening, putting a longtime ally of President Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the president. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with only Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, joining with all Republicans to pass her confirmation 54-46, reports the AP.
- Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump's ire over the criminal cases it brought against him . She enters with the FBI, which she will oversee, in turmoil over the scrutiny of agents involved in investigations related to the president, who has made clear his desire to seek revenge on his perceived adversaries.