By Matthew Vadum
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump said on April 2 that Pam Bondi will no longer be the U.S. attorney general.
Trump confirmed the personnel decision in a Truth Social post.
He called Bondi “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.
The president said her deputy, Todd Blanche, will temporarily serve as acting attorney general.
“We 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,” Trump said.
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” the president said.
Blanche also praised Bondi, saying she led the Department of Justice “with strength and conviction and I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship.”
Blanche thanked Trump “for the trust and the opportunity to serve as Acting Attorney General.”
“We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe,” he said in a post on X.
Bondi was confirmed 54-46 by the U.S. Senate in February 2025.
As head of the Justice Department, Bondi faced withering criticism from Republicans and Democrats over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The release of millions of documents from the department’s sex trafficking investigations into the late financier was ordered by Congress, but critics accused her of slow-walking or mismanaging the rollout of the material.
The issue caused political problems for Trump and focused attention on his former friendship with Epstein, which the president said ended decades ago.
Bondi defended the release of the Epstein files, saying the Trump administration had been more transparent than previous administrations, and that the department was only given a short time to review a huge number of documents.
Bondi, who was previously a Florida attorney general, said she worked to get the department to renew its focus on violent crime and restoring trust in the department among Trump’s supporters after federal prosecutors twice laid criminal charges against Trump after this first presidency ended.
Reuters contributed to this report.
