type: timeline_event
Pam Bondi was confirmed by the Senate 54-46 on February 4, 2025, and sworn in the following day as U.S. Attorney General. She was Trump's second choice—Matt Gaetz was withdrawn after even the MAGA-aligned Senate balked at his record involving underage girls.
Within days, Bondi stormed into the National Security Division of the DOJ, personally ripped portraits of Biden-era officials off the walls, and demoted acting division head Devin DeBacker, telling staff: "Don't you people realize who won the election?" She bragged about the incident on Fox News.
Bondi had been a registered Democrat until 2000 and worked as a Florida prosecutor for 18 years before pivoting to Republican politics. As Florida AG (2011-2019), she was known for: receiving a $25,000 Trump Foundation donation before dropping Florida's investigation of Trump University; firing prosecutors who were investigating foreclosure fraud by campaign donors; doing nothing on the Epstein case despite being pressed to act; and spending $493,000 in taxpayer money fighting same-sex marriage.
After leaving office, she became a lobbyist at Ballard Partners, representing clients including the government of Qatar, Amazon, and private prison corporation GEO Group. Her appointment as AG placed her in a position to approve government actions benefiting her former clients.
By August 2025, more than half the attorneys in the DOJ division responsible for defending executive orders in court had departed—a mass exodus that contributed to the administration's repeated losses in federal court.