The Senate confirmed former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in a largely party-line vote Tuesday evening.
Senators voted 54 to 46 with every Senate Republican and Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman supporting Bondi’s nomination. The newly-confirmed attorney general becomes Trump’s 11th cabinet nominee to secure Senate confirmation.
⚖️ The Senate will vote THIS EVENING on the nomination of Pam Bondi to be the next Attorney General. pic.twitter.com/LYYcgREGbr
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 4, 2025
Bondi was widely praised for her performance during two days of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee during which she rebuffed lines of questioning from Senate Democrats. During the hearings, Bondi said she would return the DOJ to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and enforcing the law. She also said she would end the agency’s lawfare practices that occurred during the Biden administration.
“If confirmed as United States Attorney General, my overriding objective would be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law,” Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “That requires getting back to basics—prosecuting violent crime and gang activity, stopping child predators and drug traffickers, protecting our nation from terrorists and other foreign threats, and addressing the overwhelming crisis at the Border. The Department of Justice must also return to defending the foundational rights of all Americans, including free speech, free exercise of religion, and the right to bear arms.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Bondi an “experienced prosecutor” who will end the weaponization of the DOJ that occurred under the Biden administration and restore Americans’ faith in the judicial system.
“In recent years many Americans have lost faith in the Justice Department. They’ve seen federal prosecutors go after pro-life activists – while attacks against churches have gone unprosecuted,” Thune said. “The American people should be able to trust that the Department of Justice is not targeting Americans based on their political opinions or religious beliefs. Pam Bondi has promised to get the department back to its core mission: prosecuting crime and protecting Americans from threats to their safety and their freedoms.”
GOP senators overcame Democrats’ filibuster of Bondi’s nomination during a vote of 52-46 Monday evening. Bondi cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote of 12-10 with recently sworn-in Republican Florida Sen. Ashley Moody giving Bondi’s nomination an additional vote on the committee.
Before serving as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019, Bondi spent nearly 20 years serving as a prosecutor in the state’s Hillsborough County.
Trump previously nominated former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to the DOJ role. The former congressman withdrew his nomination due to reportedly insurmountable opposition from Senate Republicans.
Thune also teed up a cloture vote on former NFL player Scott Turner to serve as Housing and Urban Development secretary Tuesday evening. Turner served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration and is chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for Education Opportunity.
Featured Image Credit: Florida House of Representatives
