Senators measurement pushing backmost connected Trump's picks
Washington — Pam Bondi, the erstwhile Florida lawyer wide who represented President-elect Donald Trump during his archetypal impeachment, is acceptable to look earlier the Senate Judiciary Committee connected Wednesday arsenic she seeks confirmation to service arsenic the nation's apical instrumentality enforcement officer.
Trump selected Bondi to beryllium his nominee for U.S. lawyer wide aft his archetypal pick, erstwhile Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration. Bondi made past successful 2010 erstwhile she became the archetypal pistillate to service arsenic Florida's lawyer general, a relation she held for 2 terms.
A adjacent state of the president-elect, Bondi was speedy to endorse Trump successful his archetypal tally for the White House successful 2016 and was 1 of Florida's archetypal elected officials to bash so.
Bondi's confirmation proceeding earlier the Senate Judiciary Committee is one of respective taking place earlier GOP-led panels this week arsenic Trump prepares to statesman his 2nd word successful office. Amid those picks fielding questions from senators up of Monday's inauguration are Pete Hegseth, Trump's intended nominee for defence secretary; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is nether information for caput of state; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who Trump selected to pb the Department of Homeland Security.
Republicans person indicated they program to springiness important deference to Trump arsenic helium fills retired the apical ranks of his medication and are aiming to instal cardinal Cabinet officials to their posts soon aft the president-elect is inaugurated Monday.
Bondi's nomination

Bondi spent the weeks starring up to her confirmation proceeding gathering with senators connected Capitol Hill, and she is not expected to look important hurdles to confirmation by the Republican-led Senate. Judiciary Committee president Chuck Grassley sat down with Bondi successful aboriginal December and called her a "well-qualified nominee with an awesome ineligible career."
Still, Democrats are apt to probe Bondi connected concerns that Trump volition weaponize the Justice Department to people his governmental enemies, including President Biden, erstwhile peculiar counsel Jack Smith and members of the House prime committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol.
She is besides expected to beryllium questioned astir her presumption of the relation of lawyer wide and the independency of the Justice Department.
Ahead of the hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin, the apical Democrat connected the Judiciary Committee, accused Trump of utilizing the Justice Department arsenic his idiosyncratic instrumentality steadfast and said helium is acrophobic Bondi volition prioritize fealty to Trump implicit loyalty to the Constitution. He met with Bondi past week.
"The evident interest with Ms. Bondi is whether she volition travel the bipartisan contented of the post-Watergate epoch and oversee an autarkic Department of Justice that upholds the regularisation of law," Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Monday successful a Senate level speech.
She whitethorn besides look scrutiny from Democrats implicit her deficiency of national acquisition and her enactment lobbying for overseas nations aft leaving authorities government. The lawyer wide campaigner is simply a spouse astatine Ballard Partners, a lobbying steadfast that besides employed Susie Wiles, Trump's incoming White House main of staff.
Bondi was term-limited successful her presumption arsenic Florida's lawyer wide and near bureau successful 2019. While successful office, she spearheaded lawsuits against the Obama administration, challenging the Affordable Care Act — known arsenic Obamacare — and then-President Barack Obama's migration policies.
She went connected to service arsenic an lawyer and lobbyist astatine Ballard Partners. There, she represented ample corporations similar General Motors, Amazon, Uber, and the American Institute Against Human Trafficking, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks lobbying. And she submitted a registration with the national authorities to lobby connected behalf of Qatar "regarding Qatari relations with U.S. authorities officials, U.S. concern entities, and non-governmental audiences, successful dealing with matters pertaining to combating quality trafficking."
During Trump's archetypal term, Bondi concisely near her lobbying presumption to serve arsenic a member of his defence squad during the archetypal acceptable of impeachment proceedings pursued by legislature Democrats. She defended Trump's July 2019 telephone with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and said the then-president had a ground to rise concerns astir the Bidens, Ukraine and the Ukrainian earthy state institution Burisma. Hunter Biden, Mr. Biden's son, served connected the committee of Burisma.
During the 2019 call, Trump pressured Zelenskyy to analyse Mr. Biden, past his main rival for the presidency, and his son. Democratic lawmakers launched investigative proceedings to find whether Trump conditioned information assistance to Ukraine connected the nationalist announcement of an investigation.
The Democratic-led House voted to impeach Trump for maltreatment of powerfulness and obstructing a legislature investigation, making him conscionable the 3rd U.S. president to ever beryllium impeached. The Republican-led Senate past acquitted him pursuing a trial, wherever Bondi was portion of the squad representing Trump.
In the aftermath of the 2020 statesmanlike election, she spearheaded ineligible efforts to situation the results successful Pennsylvania and pushed the mendacious assertion that Trump won the state.
Bondi was besides among the Trump allies who traveled to New York and spoke retired successful defence of the president-elect aboriginal past twelvemonth during his "hush money" transgression trial. A jury convicted Trump connected 34 authorities felony counts of falsifying concern records successful May and helium was sentenced past week.
After the Justice Department brought transgression charges against Trump successful 2023, Bondi told Fox News, "The Department of Justice, the prosecutors volition beryllium prosecuted, the atrocious ones. The investigators volition beryllium investigated due to the fact that the heavy authorities past word for President Trump, they were hiding successful the shadows. But present they person a spotlight connected them."
If confirmed, she volition present pb that section and volition person the powerfulness to look into assorted aspects of the investigations into Trump that were led by Smith. She volition besides oversee the galore instrumentality enforcement components nether the Justice Department, including the FBI and the ATF, 2 organizations that person been targets of the president-elect and his allies.
Bondi volition besides oversee implementation of aspects of Trump's bureau and pb the section that volition support the president-elect's actions successful national court.
Libby Cathey contributed to this report.
Melissa Quinn is simply a authorities newsman for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a absorption connected the Supreme Court and national courts.