WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general, is facing the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
She is expected to face tough questions about her loyalty to Trump, who has pledged to use the Department of Justice to target his perceived political enemies.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, will likely be one of the most closely watched Cabinet members as Democrats express concerns that Trump may attempt to bend the DOJ to his will.
Senate hearings are scheduled this week for Trump’s picks for more than a dozen top administrative positions.
Who is Pam Bondi?
Bondi was a prosecutor for nearly two decades in the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office before becoming Florida’s first female attorney general in 2010.
She served as Florida’s attorney general for eight years. She campaigned for the state’s top legal office by challenging then-President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and calling for her state to adopt Arizona’s controversial “show me your papers” immigration law.
As attorney general in Florida from 2011 to 2019, Bondi was vocal on human trafficking issues and urged tightening state laws against traffickers. After that, she worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners.
In addition, Bondi represented KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti firm also known as KGLI. She lobbied the White House, National Security Council, State Department and Congress on immigration policy, human rights and economic sanctions issues, the Associated Press reported.
Sources tell NewsNation that Bondi is trusted by Trump and that she spends time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Bondi was a senior adviser on Trump’s first impeachment defense team when he was accused in 2020 of abuse of power for allegedly pressuring the president of Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals. Trump was ultimately not convicted.
NewsNation correspondent Brooke Shafer contributed to this report.
