Enter Acting AG Todd Blanche
According to reports early this afternoon, Pam Bondi is no longer attorney general. She’s been fired (The New York Times):
The dismissal of Ms. Bondi, 60, ends a turbulent 14-month tenure as attorney general in which she tried desperately to appease a boss who demanded unimpeded control of the Justice Department to pursue politically motivated investigations against targets of his choosing, even when prosecutors warned that there was no evidence to do so.
The president’s support for Ms. Bondi has been steadily eroding since last summer, when her initial mistakes in managing the release of the Epstein files created a political liability for Mr. Trump among his supporters. He has also complained about her shortcomings as a communicator and TV surrogate — a role he thought would suit her talents.
That did not take long.
Trump posted that just after a drone(?) camera video of the destruction of a bridge being constructed in Karaj, Iran. Iranian media claims two people were killed.
CNN:
Trump had in recent days talked to allies about the possibility of firing Bondi, and he talked with her personally on Wednesday about the possibility it would happen, sources said. 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, sources said.
Sources said Bondi was told she would be given a different job later. In their conversation, two sources said, Trump floated the possibility of appointing her as a judge after her departure from the Justice Department.
The big question now is whether that “Truth” was Bondi’s notice or whether Trump had the nerve to fire her in person. The next question is whether she’ll have anything to say about it as barbed as her comments in congressional hearings.
Trump has appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former Trump personal lawyer, as acting AG. (He can serve for 210 days.) He’s no improvement. A number of names are in the mix for Bondi’s replacement, including Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin, an election denier. Anyone Trump nominates will face a very tough confirmation. That’s why Trump filled many high-level jobs in his first term with acting officials.
NPR reported in March 2020:
Trump has often said he likes installing “acting” officials because it gives him more flexibility. His administration has been sued over this, and recently lost a court case over the practice, when a federal judge found that it hired a top immigration official unlawfully.
Now the Trump administration is increasingly turning to the more obscure tactic that leads to those lengthy titles. It’s known as delegation.
“That’s the shocking thing — just how many positions are working because of these delegations,” says Anne Joseph O’Connell, an expert on administrative law at Stanford Law School.
Why not just name acting directors and deputies to fill these open positions? The answer, O’Connell says, lies in a law known as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which lays out extensive rules about who can be appointed to serve in Senate-confirmed jobs, and for how long.
But that was in Trump’s first term. His entire administration is operating in a rules-optional manner. God knows what we’ll see in Trump 2.0 now that he needs a new AG.