Overview
- President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he fired Attorney General Pam Bondi and tapped Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve as acting attorney general.
- Trump praised Bondi in a Truth Social post and said she will move to a job in the private sector, while Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer, steps in to lead the Justice Department.
- The decision follows sustained backlash over Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein records, including her 2025 claim of a “client list” the DOJ later said did not exist and disclosures that critics said exposed some victims’ identities.
- Trump and allies also faulted Bondi for stalled or failed cases against perceived opponents, with indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James thrown out by a judge on procedural grounds.
- Lee Zeldin, who leads the Environmental Protection Agency, is under consideration for the permanent role according to multiple reports, and Bondi remains under a House Oversight subpoena for an April 14 deposition on the Epstein files.