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US Attorney Pamela Jo Bondi speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the nomination hearing for US Attorney General in Washington DC, USA, on January 15, 2025, at Hart Senate/Capitol Hill.
Trump Cabinet hearings ramp up, and so do concerns
On Monday, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland over a century ago. As he heads back to the White House, his controversial Cabinet nominees face hearings in the Senate, while concerns about the weaponization of government institutions loom.
The first tranche of Trump nominees — including scandal-struckPete Hegseth forsecretary of defense, Pam Bondi for attorney general, Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Scott Bessent for treasury secretary, and John Ratcliffe for CIA director — all appear to stand a strong chance of confirmation. Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and FBI director, Kash Patel, however, may face longer odds.
Patel has vowed to go after “government gangsters” — so-called enemies within the state — raising questions as to whether he would use the FBI to target Trump’s political opponents. At her hearing, Bondi said she would not create an “enemies list” to prosecute, but she defended Patel, calling him “the right person at this time for this job.” Nonetheless, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee she would “not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”
Gabbard, who has talked about a “slow-rolling coup” by government insiders against US democracy, has also raised concerns. As she plans to remake the US intelligence machine, she faces accusations of parroting Kremlin propaganda — an accusation that experts say could make Western intelligence agencies uncomfortable, to say the least.
Neither Patel nor Gabbard have had hearings scheduled yet. We’ll be watching when they’re ready for their close-ups.Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her first of two days of confirmation hearings on Wednesday.
DOJ independence takes center stage at Bondi confirmation hearing
Democrats' questions focused on Bodi’s loyalty to Trump and whether it would degrade the department’s independence or enable it to be weaponized by the president. Bondi is a longtime ally of Trump, who aided his defense during his first impeachment and refused to say whether Biden won the election during the hearing. Bondi also did not say whether she would defy White House pressure but reassured the chamber that “politics will not play a part” in her job. In his previous term, Trump forced out multiple attorneys general who disagreed with him.
Republicans pointed to the fact that several presidents in the past have appointed people close to them – including John F. Kennedy, who famously appointed his brother — and accused the department’s investigations into Trump under the Biden administration as being politically motivated. They also praised Bondi for her history of being tough on crime, and with a three-seat majority they are expected to have an easy time voting her in.
Why it matters whether the Justice Department is independent from the president. The Department of Justice is meant to investigate the wrongdoings of anyone, regardless of their political affiliations, and without fear or favor. Beyond eroding trust in the institution, some fear that Trump could use the department to carry out the “retribution” against his enemies that he promised on the campaign trail.