Attorney General Pam Bondi was ousted from her position on Thursday and will be moving to a role in the private sector, President Donald Trump announced.
In a post online, Trump said Bondi was a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.”
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” he said.
Trump said “we love Pam, adding she will be transitioning to a “much needed and important” job in the private sector, which will be announced at a later date.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as acting attorney general in the interim.
The news of Bondi’s ousting came as multiple reports said the president was considering removing her from the top law enforcement position and possibly nominating Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin to replace her.
Bondi released a statement Thursday afternoon and said she will be working “tirelessly” to transition her office to Blanche over the next month before moving to her “important private sector role” that will allow her to continue fighting for Trump and the administration.
“Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history,” she said.
Bondi said that since last February, the murder rate is the lowest its been in more than 100 years, the DOJ secured “first-ever terrorism convictions” against Antifa members, dismantled domestic and transnational gangs, arrested more than 90 key cartel members and earned 24 favorable rulings at the Supreme Court.
Bondi has been criticized during her 14 months in the Trump administration, particularly for her handling of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Last year, she faced scrutiny after the Department of Justice said there was no “client list” of people associated with Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019. The announcement about the list came after months of promises from Bondi and Trump for transparency about the public figures associated with the late financier.
After months of public pressure, Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act, which directed the DOJ to release all information it had about Epstein and his sex trafficking action.
In the lead-up to Trump signing the act, there were calls for Bondi to step down from leading the DOJ over the matter, but in a July press conference, she said she’d continue to serve for “as long as the president wants me here.”
Among conservatives, Bondi was criticized for not bringing charges against Democrats involved in the investigation into Trump’s relationship with Russia.
In a post on X, Blanche said Bondi led the department with “strength and conviction.” He thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve as the acting attorney general and said they will “continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe.”
Before becoming Trump’s pick to lead the DOJ, Bondi served as the attorney general of Florida from 2011 to 2019 and was the first woman to fill that role. She also served as one of Trump’s defense lawyers in his 2020 impeachment trial and went on to lead the legal team of the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was nominated to be Trump’s attorney general for his second term after his controversial first pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
It’s the second high-profile ousting by the Trump administration in recent weeks. Kristi Noem was removed from her position leading the Department of Homeland Security after Trump’s frustrations mounted with how she handled congressional hearings in response to federal agents in Minnesota and two fatal shootings there.