海角大神

Trump pushes out Pam Bondi, as political problems mount at home

Attorney General Pam Bondi has been pushed out of her role, the second high-level departure from President Donald Trump鈥檚 Cabinet in recent weeks.

Mr. Trump made the announcement on Thursday afternoon. 鈥淲e 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,鈥� he wrote in . He also said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would assume the position on an interim basis. The announcement came one day after Ms. Bondi traveled to the Supreme Court with Mr. Trump, where the two listened to arguments in the president鈥檚 case challenging birthright citizenship.

Ms. Bondi confirmed her departure in a in which she called working for the Trump administration 鈥渢he honor of a lifetime,鈥� and cited accomplishments such as the 鈥渓owest murder rate in 125 years,鈥� terrorism convictions against antifa members, and actions against transnational gangs and cartels.

Multiple news outlets that Mr. Trump Ms. Bondi on Wednesday and told her her firing was imminent, with some reporting suggesting that Ms. Bondi pushed back and tried to convince the president to keep her on. The New York Times that Mr. Trump has floated the idea of tapping Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, as the next attorney general.

Ms. Bondi鈥檚 dismissal comes on the heels of Kristi Noem鈥檚 firing from the Department of Homeland Security in early March. That Mr. Trump has now pushed out two of his most visible Cabinet members 鈥� both women 鈥� in such a short span underscores the increasingly dire political straits in which the president finds himself.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 war with Iran has sharply divided his MAGA base and has created new economic pressures at home. In a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday night, the president provided no new information on how his administration plans to wind down the conflict. Gas prices have been climbing, and Mr. Trump鈥檚 approval rating on the economy has hit a new low. His tariff policy was struck down by the Supreme Court, and his solicitor general faced tough questioning during oral arguments this week for the president鈥檚 birthright citizenship case.

鈥淭here are very few, if any people, who have served the president and come out on the side of the rainbow,鈥� says Matthew Bartlett, a Trump appointee to the State Department during his first administration. Mr. Bartlett notes that both attorneys general appointed by Mr. Trump during his first term 鈥� Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr 鈥� eventually found themselves at odds with the president, who came to see them as insufficiently loyal. 鈥淭his second time around, people knew what they were signing up for: extreme and absolute loyalty to the president. But it seems like that is not enough.鈥�

Mr. Trump had reportedly been frustrated with Ms. Bondi for months over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in December that Ms. Bondi 鈥渃ompletely whiffed鈥� on it, by not understanding how important the issue was to some Trump supporters. The bipartisan frustration had been building since February 2025, when Ms. Bondi told reporters that an Epstein 鈥渃lient list鈥� was 鈥渟itting on my desk right now,鈥� and subsequently gave out thick white binders that actually contained no new information, disappointing the MAGA-influencer recipients.

She later tried to dismiss the matter, but was eventually forced by lawmakers to release millions of documents related to the late financier, leading to embarrassing new revelations for the president and other figures in his orbit. The House Oversight Committee voted in March to subpoena Ms. Bondi to testify this month regarding the Justice Department鈥檚 Epstein investigation. The committee鈥檚 Democratic ranking member, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, that, despite Ms. Bondi鈥檚 firing, the committee still expects her to testify.

Mr. Trump had also expressed frustration over the Justice Department鈥檚 failure under Ms. Bondi to effectively prosecute figures he believed had targeted him. In a (which appears to have been intended as a personal message for Ms. Bondi), the president questioned why she hadn鈥檛 gone after perceived enemies, including Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, former FBI Director James Comey, and Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. Shortly after the president鈥檚 Truth Social post, Mr. Comey was indicted on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice, and Ms. James was indicted for mortgage fraud. Both indictments were later dismissed.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 second administration had until recently avoided the inter-Cabinet drama and firings of his first administration. Personnel turnover was a common theme during his first term, during which Mr. Trump had a than his five predecessors, swapping out 11 Cabinet positions 鈥� some of them more than once. Now, there have been two firings in less than a month, and other top officials are also reportedly at odds with the president, suggesting there might be more drama to come.