President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, began making rounds in the Senate on Monday as she courts support from key lawmakers before her forthcoming confirmation hearing.
Bondi first met with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee — the panel responsible for vetting her nomination. She later met with the committee’s current ranking member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Grassley, who has long aligned with Trump on the president-elect’s vision to shake up the Department of Justice and end a perceived two-tiered justice system, praised Bondi’s experience in a statement after their meeting. He said the Senate should move “swiftly” to consider her nomination in January.
“Pam Bondi is a well-qualified nominee with an impressive legal career,” Grassley said. “Bondi is prepared to refocus the Justice Department (DOJ)’s attention where it ought to be: on enforcing the law and protecting Americans’ safety.”
Graham called Bondi an “old friend” and “the right person at the right time to take on the task of being the next attorney general of the United States.”
A Trump transition spokesman told the Washington Examiner that Bondi plans to meet with Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans throughout the week but did not specify which ones. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was among those she had on her schedule, according to one source.
Bondi is a longtime prosecutor who served as Florida attorney general for eight years. She supported Trump’s first presidential campaign despite most Florida Republicans backing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). She has also vocally backed some of Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election results and his desire to, in Bondi’s words, “prosecute the prosecutors, the bad ones.”
Unlike Bondi, Trump’s previous nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), lacked prosecutorial experience and eventually withdrew his nomination. Bondi has allowed some Republicans to breathe a sigh of relief.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner of his fellow Floridian, “Pam’s a good friend. She’ll do a great job.”
Democrats, on the other hand, conveyed skepticism. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) said when Trump announced her nomination that he had “serious questions” about her.
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told the Washington Examiner he would reserve judgment until her confirmation hearing.
“I’m going to wait for the hearings,” Wyden said. “I have not dealt with her, personally.”
David Sivak contributed to this report.
