Trump fires attorney General Pam Bondi; appoints former personal lawyer to top DOJ post

US President Donald Trump on Thursday removed Attorney General Pam Bondi and elevated his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to run the Justice Department, marking yet another upheaval in an administration long defined by turnover at its top law-enforcement post.  

Trump announced the change on his Truth Social platform, saying Bondi “will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector,” and describing Blanche, the deputy attorney general, as “a very talented and respected Legal Mind” who would take over in an acting capacity.

Bondi’s exit ends a turbulent spell in which she aligned the department more closely with the White House than any of her predecessors, clashed with career officials and came under political fire over her handling of the long-running Jeffrey Epstein files.

Bondi’s combative tenure and political controversies

Bondi entered office last year promising to steer clear of political interference, but her tenure quickly became defined by a series of investigations she launched into Trump’s critics, actions that prompted accusations that the Justice Department had been turned into an instrument of retribution.

Her aggressive posture fuelled criticism inside Congress and from the judiciary, with several prosecutions collapsing after judges ruled that the special prosecutor involved had been improperly appointed. Bondi repeatedly denied politicising the department, arguing instead that she was restoring credibility after what she characterised as overreach under President Joe Biden.

Democrats, however, accused her of weaponising the agency. At a February hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told her: “You’ve turned the People’s Department of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge.” Bondi responded with a fiery, often confrontational appearance in which she berated critics, praised Trump and pointed to the stock market, “The Dow is up over 50,000 right now”, while dismissing accusations of impropriety.

Even some Republicans began questioning her stewardship, culminating last month in a subpoena from the GOP-led House Oversight Committee demanding her testimony on the management of Epstein-related documents.

Turmoil inside the department

Her leadership coincided with a wave of personnel upheaval. Thousands of employees either resigned or were removed, including career prosecutors handling cases ranging from the prosecution of those charged over the 6 January Capitol attack to civil rights enforcement and environmental regulation. Internally, officials described widespread uncertainty as senior staff were replaced with figures closer to the White House.

Bondi’s difficulties deepened over the Justice Department’s release of Epstein files. Conservatives had expected revelations, especially after Bondi hinted in a 2025 interview that Epstein’s “client list” was on her desk, a document the department later admitted did not exist. The subsequent release of millions of pages yielded no significant new findings, fuelling frustration among Trump supporters and earning public criticism from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who told Vanity Fair that Bondi had “completely whiffed.”

The controversy intensified when binders of documents given to conservative influencers turned out to contain nothing new, prompting Congress to pass legislation requiring further disclosures.

Blanche steps in after months of presidential impatience

Trump, who had alternated between publicly supporting Bondi and pressing her to accelerate investigations into his political opponents, had shown growing frustration. In one social media message last year, he demanded action against several perceived adversaries, writing: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”

Blanche, long trusted by Trump and previously involved in defending him in high-profile legal matters, now becomes the acting attorney general. His appointment follows Bondi’s emergence as Trump’s second pick for the job, after former congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.

(With inputs from agencies)