By Dave Workman
Pam Bondi has been ousted as attorney general, and her acting replacement is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had been representing Donald Trump during various legal battles over the past few years, prior to his work at the Justice Department.
Bondi, the former attorney general in Florida, has overseen the Justice Department’s 180-degree change in direction regarding the Second Amendment. The agency’s Civil Rights Division has a Second Amendment section under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, which has taken legal actions against law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County and the Virgin Islands over deliberate foot-dragging on gun permits.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Bondi’s departure “follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation that made Bondi the target of angry conservatives.”
Fox News is reporting that Trump posted a message on Truth Social Thursday declaring Bondi “did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.” He added that Bondi “will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”
There is no indication what that job might be.
Mark Oliva, managing director of Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told TGM via email, “NSSF remains confident that the Department of Justice, through the Trump administration, is committed to defending the Second Amendment rights of all Americans and the firearm industry that makes those rights possible.
“Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche spent a considerable amount of time at SHOT Show 2026 to get a first-hand account of the concerns of the firearm industry members,” Oliva noted. “Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon also attended SHOT Show 2026 and has been unwavering in her support and critical actions through the Civil Rights Division. President Donald Trump made clear that protecting Second Amendment rights would be a priority and that has been proven by the actions of Justice Department in the first 16 months of his second administration.”
Various news agencies, including the Western Journal, are reporting that Trump’s possible permanent replacement for Bondi might be Lee Zeldin, currently head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a former Republican congressman from New York.
Bondi is the second member of Trump’s cabinet to be replaced this year. Kristi Noem was removed as secretary of Homeland Security in early March.
