The Senate on Monday voted 52-46 in a party-line vote Monday to advance the nomination of Pam Bondi to be the Department of Justice’s next Attorney General.

Ms. Bondi is now on a glide path to be confirmed by the full Senate at a final vote.  

Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, came to the floor before lawmakers cast their votes and called the former Florida attorney general a “qualified nominee.” He said Democrats are “intent on opposing” her, and President Trump’s other nominees, “purely for partisan reasons.”

“Ms. Bondi’s ready and able to serve our country and she’ll work with President Trump to restore faith in the Justice Department,” Mr. Grassley said.

The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said Democrats should be wary of supporting Ms. Bondi’s nomination because she helped support Mr. Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“President Trump has repeatedly made it clear that he values loyalty above all else when it comes to attorneys general,” he said.

“Don’t take my word for it,” Mr. Durbin said. “Look at what happened in his first term. He fired his first attorney general for not being loyal. President Trump said that he expects the Justice Department to seek retribution on his behalf.”

He added, “With Ms. Bondi, the Trump administration has finally found someone who passed the loyalty test.”

The key vote happened in the wake of the Justice Department firing dozens of prosecutors who worked on criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and the terminations of top FBI executives.

• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.