Party-line committee vote sends Pam Bondi to full Senate for confirmation as attorney general

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved Pam Bondi’s nomination for attorney general in a party-line 12-10 vote.

Before the vote, Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, praised Ms. Bondi.

“Her record shows that she’s willing to tackle and to solve some of the hardest problems facing our nation as Florida’s attorney general, Ms. Bondi, focused on human trafficking,” Mr. Grassley said.

“She led the fight against opioid pill mills, protected consumers and sought justice for victims of violent criminals. Her record and her testimony showed the American people that she will follow through and enforce the law fairly, without fear or favor.”

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the top Democrat on the panel, objected to Ms. Bondi’s nomination and said that she would “weaponize” the Justice Department against President Trump’s enemies.

“As I said during Ms. Bondi’s hearing, it is absolutely critical that any nominee for the position be committed first and foremost, to the Constitution and the American people, not the president and his political agenda,” Mr. Durbin said.

“Unfortunately, I’m unconvinced that Ms. Bondi shares my belief. She is one of four personal lawyers of President Trump that was already selected for top positions at the Department of Justice, and she has echoed President Trump’s calls for exacting revenge on his political opponents.”

Mr. Durbin said that  Ms Bondi undermined democracy when she joined Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“It appears she does not regret that decision, as she refused before this committee repeatedly during her hearing to acknowledge that President Trump actually lost the vote in 2020,” he said.

Mr. Durbin and the committee’s other Democrats echoed left-wing attacks that Ms. Bondi, who served as Florida’s attorney general, was an “election denier” and Trump loyalist.

Mr. Grassley called the attacks on Ms. Bondi unfair, including the accusations that she is an election denier, noting that Democrats have often challenged election results when they lost.

“Ms. Bondi stated that President Biden was the president and that she ‘accepted’ the results. As I said during the hearing, questioning the results of an election does not make one an election denier,” Mr. Grassley said.  “If this is the criteria by which we judge public officials, scores of Democrats, including some on this committee, are similarly situated.”

“Minority Leader Schumer cast doubt on Senator Casey’s loss of the Pennsylvania [Senate race, and] Hillary Clinton, elected Democrats have called President Trump an illegitimate president and suggested the 2016 election was stolen,” he said. “Stacey Abrams and even some members of this committee suggested the 2018 Georgia governor’s election was ‘stolen.’ The attacks against Ms. Bondi on this point is a partisan double standard.”

Senate Democrats are warning that Ms. Bondi and Mr. Trump’s nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel, who is expected to testify before the committee on Thursday, will go after Mr. Trump’s political opponents.

However, there is little Democrats can do to stop either nomination, as Ms. Bondi has the full support of the Republican conference, which controls the chamber 53-47, and Mr. Patel currently has the support of Republican lawmakers going into his hearing.