Pam Bondi, who Donald Trump tapped last night for attorney general after former Representative Matt Gaetz dropped his bid, is arriving on the national stage with a smaller profile and less political baggage than Gaetz.
Bondi began working as an assistant state attorney in the Tampa-area in the 1990s, before becoming Florida’s first female attorney general in 2011. She left that post in 2019 and became a lobbyist for a powerhouse Republican firm. While there, she represented major corporations and foreign governments with interests before the U.S. government.
Like Gaetz, Bondi is a Trump loyalist. She served on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment and oversaw the filing of voting-related lawsuits in battleground states.
The president-elect has been keen to install a close ally at the Justice Department. He has vowed to purge the agency of what he calls “deep state” foes — suggesting an end to the department’s longstanding practice of independence.
Trump still has 10 more cabinet picks to announce. We’re tracking his choices.
In other politics news:
A New York judge postponed Trump’s sentencing in his Manhattan criminal case.
Elon Musk is getting a crash course on the cutthroat politics of Trump’s inner circle. His ultimate influence remains an open question.
JD Vance and other Trump allies say limiting immigration will raise wages and give jobs to sidelined Americans. Many economists disagree.
Blue state attorneys general worry that blocking Trump through court action will be tougher in his second term.
Trump won the popular vote by one of the smallest margins since the 19th century. But he has claimed a “powerful mandate.”