Pam Bondi at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice, on Capitol Hill, Oct. 7, 2025.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump ousted Attorney-General Pam Bondi on Thursday after mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr. Trump also felt Ms. Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries whom he wanted to face criminal charges, according to sources.
Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Mr. Trump, will lead the Justice Department temporarily, Mr. Trump said in a social-media post.
In the post, Mr. Trump praised Ms. Bondi as a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend” who had overseen a “massive crackdown in Crime.” Mr. Trump said she will soon move to a job in the private sector, but he gave no details.
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In her own social-media post, Ms. Bondi said: “Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honour of a lifetime.”
She said she would spend the next month transitioning the role to Mr. Blanche. On social media, Mr. Blanche thanked Mr. Trump and praised Ms. Bondi, promising to do “everything in our power to keep America safe.”
During her tenure as the top U.S. law-enforcement official, Ms. Bondi was a combative champion of Mr. Trump’s agenda and dismantled the Justice Department’s long-standing tradition of independence from the White House in its investigations. But it was repeated criticism over the Epstein files, including from Trump allies and some Republican lawmakers, that came to dominate her tenure. Ms. Bondi was accused of covering up or mismanaging the release of records on the DOJ’s sex-trafficking investigations into Mr. Epstein, a financier who cultivated ties to wealthy and powerful figures.
U.S. President Donald Trump has removed Attorney-General Pam Bondi from her post, a White House official said on Thursday, following mounting frustration with her performance, including her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Reuters
Mr. Trump informed Ms. Bondi at a White House meeting on Wednesday that he was looking to replace her as attorney-general, according to a source familiar with the matter. Trump allies had encouraged the President in recent days to “rip off the Band-Aid” and fire her, according to the source and one other person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Trump told Ms. Bondi multiple times over the past several months that he was unhappy with her performance, a senior White House official told Reuters. The official said Mr. Trump has contemplated replacing her with Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but has also discussed other candidates.
Ms. Bondi spent much of Wednesday with Mr. Trump, riding with him to the U.S. Supreme Court in the morning, attending an Easter lunch where he spoke and later watching his address to the nation on the Iran war. At the Supreme Court, Mr. Trump observed as one of Ms. Bondi’s top officials, Solicitor-General D. John Sauer, was grilled by justices about the administration’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship.
Bondi clashes with Democrats over Justice Department’s handling of Epstein files
The Epstein files created political headaches for Mr. Trump and drew renewed scrutiny of his past friendship with Mr. Epstein, which he has said ended decades ago.
Ms. Bondi’s firing could lead to a shake-up in strategy at the Justice Department and potentially a renewed push to deploy the U.S. legal system against Mr. Trump’s targets. Ms. Bondi is the second senior Trump official to be ousted recently.
(FILES) US President Donald Trump (R) looks on as Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference to discuss crime in Washington, DC, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2025. US media reported on April 2, 2026, that US President Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images
Mr. Trump removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 5 after criticism of her management of the agency and Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda. Ms. Bondi, a former Republican state attorney-general in Florida, said she worked on restoring the Justice Department’s focus on violent crime and rebuilding trust with Mr. Trump’s supporters after federal prosecutors twice criminally charged Mr. Trump during his years out of power. Ms. Bondi also faced criticism over the removal of dozens of career prosecutors who worked on investigations that Mr. Trump opposed, with critics accusing her of abandoning the DOJ’s traditional focus on even-handed justice.
“Pam Bondi took a sledgehammer to the Justice Department and its work force,” said Stacey Young, a former DOJ lawyer and the head of Justice Connection, an advocacy organization formed to aid career staff who were expelled or resigned.
Ms. Bondi presided over a mass exodus of career lawyers from many crucial DOJ units and a near-total alignment between the Justice Department and Mr. Trump, whose image now adorns its Washington headquarters.
DOJ has pursued a slew of investigations against Trump antagonists, including bringing criminal charges last year against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney-General Letitia James.
The cases encountered obstacles in court and were thrown out by a judge who found the Trump-nominated prosecutor who brought them, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
“Pam Bondi’s legacy will be the weaponization of the world’s pre-eminent law enforcement agency for Donald Trump’s personal benefit, but apparently even she didn’t go far enough to appease him,” Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 11.J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press
Ms. Bondi defended the rollout of the Epstein files, saying the Trump administration had been more transparent than previous presidents and that DOJ lawyers quickly reviewed reams of material.
At a House of Representatives committee hearing in February, Ms. Bondi responded to criticism with political attacks on lawmakers.
Ms. Bondi early last year played into fevered speculation about the Epstein files, saying a client list was on her desk for review. But after an initial release included material that was largely already public, the DOJ and FBI declared in July that the case was closed and no further disclosures were warranted.
That prompted an eruption of criticism and eventually a bipartisan law passed in November requiring the Justice Department to release nearly all its files.
The release of roughly three million pages still did not quell the controversy, as lawmakers criticized redactions and the disclosure of some Epstein victims’ identities. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Ms. Bondi and she was set to testify on April 14.