US President Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi as the United States Attorney General, multiple sources confirmed to CNN, NBC News, CBS News, and other major outlets on April 2, 2026. She will be replaced for now by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who becomes acting Attorney General effective immediately. Bondi becomes the second Cabinet member fired by Trump in his second term, following the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month.
White House officials have discussed several possibilities as options for attorney general, but Lee Zeldin, the Senate-confirmed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is the likely replacement.
Why Trump Fired Bondi
Trump had grown more and more frustrated with Bondi in recent days. While he likes her as a person, he does not think she has executed on his vision in the way that he wants.
The frustrations were concentrated in two specific areas. Trump has felt frustrated there have not been more indictments and arrests of his political adversaries. During Bondi’s tenure, efforts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James both collapsed when a federal judge dismissed the indictments. Probes into Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell, and Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook have not resulted in charges. An investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was blocked by a judge.
The second and equally significant source of frustration is the Jeffrey Epstein files. Trump has been frustrated by the backlash and anger in his base over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Bondi faces a deposition later this month on Capitol Hill related to the congressional investigation into the late sex trafficker.
On March 17, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Bondi, compelling her to sit for a deposition about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files on April 14. The handling of the files had been deeply controversial, with Epstein survivors and members of Congress denouncing the department for excessive redactions that obscured information about possible accomplices while leaving victim information unprotected.
The Final Days
Trump talked with Bondi personally on Wednesday about the possibility it would happen. In the conversation, which one source described as tough, Trump indicated Bondi was not long for her role and he would be replacing her in the near future. Trump floated the possibility of appointing her as a judge after her departure from the Justice Department.
Despite the firing, Trump expressed personal warmth toward Bondi throughout the process. A White House official said Trump still personally likes Bondi and notified her before the official removal to help her along. Just one day before her firing, Trump had publicly stated: “Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.”
Bondi was with Trump on Wednesday, riding in his motorcade as he attended the Supreme Court arguments on birthright citizenship and listening in person to his remarks on the Iran war that night. The optic of the AG at her president’s side hours before her dismissal is consistent with the pattern of abrupt Trump Cabinet removals.
Who Is Todd Blanche — The Acting AG
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will be acting attorney general. Some of Bondi’s allies believe that the lack of prosecutions against Trump’s enemies is being driven by Blanche, who has not pushed them too hard amid political concerns and worries about his future after his Justice Department career. The irony that the man who may have slowed down the prosecutions Bondi was fired for not delivering now leads the department is not lost on Washington observers.
Who Is Lee Zeldin — The Likely Replacement
The idea of replacing Bondi with Zeldin first arose in January, then subsided as Epstein coverage slipped from the news cycle. Zeldin represented New York’s 1st congressional district prior to his role at the EPA. After losing the 2022 New York governor’s race to Kathy Hochul, Zeldin remained close to Trump, regularly appearing at Mar-A-Lago throughout his 2024 campaign.
Trump met with Zeldin on Tuesday. His confirmation as EPA Administrator was by the full Senate, meaning a move to Attorney General would require a fresh Senate confirmation process.
Bondi’s Tenure in Brief
Pam Bondi was confirmed as Attorney General in February 2025 with a 54-46 vote mostly along party lines. She was Trump’s second choice for the role after former Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew due to lack of Senate support. During her tenure she oversaw the firing of scores of attorneys and FBI agents tied to Trump’s criminal prosecutions, the gutting of the Civil Rights Division, and the targeting of the president’s critics. She also sat for a combative Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in October during which she insulted Democratic members of the panel.
Bondi’s ousting marks the second departure of a Trump Cabinet member this term, after he ousted Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary in March, replacing her with Senator Markwayne Mullin.
What This Means
The firing of the nation’s top law enforcement officer in the middle of an Iran war, amid ongoing Iran-related market volatility, and while the Justice Department faces an Epstein deposition deadline of April 14 creates a significant moment of institutional uncertainty at the DOJ. The acting Attorney General is the man some believe slowed down the very prosecutions his predecessor was fired for not delivering. The likely replacement needs Senate confirmation. And the department faces its Epstein deposition in less than two weeks.