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In a way, President Donald J. Trump’s firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi should not have been a surprise, especially after the president’s Truth Social post last September criticizing her for failing to prosecute his political opponents. He told her she was “all talk, no action” and declared that her inaction was “killing our reputation and credibility.”
Whether that posting was meant to be private or public, it’s clear the president was very unhappy with the attorney general. And this was on top of her disastrous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the release of the government’s files on him.
The next few months will be interesting. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, can run the Justice Department for 210 days. That means he can remain in the post until late November, after the midterms. That would save the White House from a confirmation battle in the midst of an election.
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Maybe, having ripped the bandage off by firing Bondi, the president might want to elevate Blanche. Can Senate Republicans get him through confirmation hearings before the August break?
Senate Democrats could be counted on to grill him about the two issues that Trump was unhappy with Attorney General Bondi over, namely the Epstein files and going after the president’s enemies list. How effective will Democrats be in roughing up Blanche? And since he’s likely to be confirmed by the 53 Senate Republicans, will any issues raised in the confirmation hearing help Democrats in the midterms?
Then there’s also talk that the president might be leaning toward Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin as the new attorney general. Zeldin is liked by his former House colleagues, who don’t get to vote on his confirmation but would be a supportive chorus for him. Democrats would still pound him on Epstein and the potential prosecution of the president’s enemies.
None of these questions are going away, especially since Bondi has an April 14 deposition scheduled before the House Oversight Committee.
The Republican chairman may find it impossible to cancel her appearance now, since Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led the effort to subpoena Bondi. She was joined by three other Republicans on the committee in voting with all the committee’s Democrats to force Ms. Bondi to appear.
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Yes, we shouldn’t be surprised that the president dumped his attorney general. But her firing doesn’t end the issues that led to her removal. It’s just expanded the cast of political players who will now have to answer tough questions about those same issues.
Get your popcorn. Pam Bondi’s firing was just one episode.
The next act of this drama is about to begin.
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