President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2, removing his second Cabinet member in recent weeks amid mounting frustration over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and failure to aggressively prosecute his political opponents, sources confirmed.
Trump announced on Truth Social that Bondi would be “transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector,” with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche serving as acting attorney general . A senior administration official and a source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Bondi was fired .
Trump had been frustrated with Bondi on multiple fronts, sources said, including her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and that she had not investigated or prosecuted enough of his political opponents . A person familiar with White House deliberations said Trump had grown “more and more frustrated” with Bondi in recent days, adding that while he likes her as a person, he doesn’t think she has “executed on his vision” .
The firing comes less than two weeks before Bondi was scheduled to appear for a subpoenaed deposition before the House Oversight Committee on April 14. The Republican-led committee voted 24-19 in March to subpoena Bondi, with five Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the motion . Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who forced the subpoena vote, said Bondi “handled the Epstein Files in a terrible manner and seriously undermined President Trump” .
Sources have told CNN that Trump is considering replacing Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin . Trump held a meeting with Zeldin at the White House Tuesday to discuss wildfire and prevention, where talks of the transition also unfolded, according to an individual familiar with the meeting .
Blanche, 51, rises from Trump’s former criminal defense attorney to acting head of the Justice Department. Blanche led Trump’s criminal defense team in matters including his New York hush money case, which ended in his conviction on 34 felony counts, and a pair of federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith . As deputy attorney general, Blanche was the Justice Department’s second-in-command, managing the department’s day-to-day operations under Bondi .
“Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship,” Blanche wrote on X. “Thank you to President Trump for the trust and the opportunity to serve as Acting Attorney General” .
The Epstein controversy has dogged Bondi’s tenure since taking office in February 2025. Many were frustrated that she said in a February 2025 interview on Fox News that an Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review,” only for the department to later assert no such list existed . The administration has been under fire for allegedly fumbling the process and over-redacting files, while Justice Department officials maintain they are simply moving as fast as possible to legally vet millions of sensitive pages .
Beyond the Epstein files, Trump’s broader frustrations centered on prosecutions of his political enemies. The Justice Department had secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, but both were thrown out after a judge ruled the prosecutor was illegally serving . In September, Trump inadvertently posted what appeared to be a private message to Bondi on Truth Social, urging her to prosecute some of his biggest foes. Weeks later, the DOJ indicted Comey and James, though both cases have since been dismissed .
Bondi is the second Cabinet member to be axed by the president. Kristi Noem was fired last month as homeland security secretary . It is less than a month since Trump fired Noem, and Trump ousted Bondi as attorney general, ending a tumultuous 14-month tenure at the Justice Department .
Congressional Democrats quickly seized on the firing while vowing to continue pursuing Bondi’s testimony. “Bondi will not escape accountability and remains legally obligated to appear before our Committee under oath,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) . Mace said Bondi would still need to appear for the April 14 deposition: “The DOJ still hasn’t complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why we had no choice but to subpoena her” .
However, Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who opposed the subpoena, was more non-committal, with a spokesperson saying: “Since Pam Bondi is no longer Attorney General, Chairman Comer will speak with Republican members and the Department of Justice about the status of the deposition subpoena and confer on next steps” .
The firing represents a significant escalation in Trump’s willingness to remove high-level officials in his second term.