Columnist reveals the strategic blunder Trump made when he fired his last AG

Sarah K. Burris
06 April
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

Jennifer Rubin anticipates that the person taking over the Justice Department won't just face the same barriers former Attorney General Pam Bondi did, but will likely be even worse.

Writing for The Contrarian on Monday, Rubin walked through the legacy Bondi left, which was one of turning the Justice Department from an independent agency into a reputation-ruiner across the federal court system. It's just one of the many problems that include firing hundreds of people who had important institutional knowledge and expertise.

"It will take decades to undo the damage [Bondi] has wrought," wrote Rubin. "To recover, the department will need to devise new mechanisms to insulate it from partisan corruption. At the very least, the next Democratic AG must complete a top-to-bottom review of DOJ’s misdeeds, ethical violations, and lawlessness, and then pursue accountability (e.g. professional sanctions, prosecution for perjury) for miscreants."

Rubin recalled just how bad Bondi's confirmation hearing was in the Senate Judiciary Committee "amidst a blizzard of red flags." She specifically cited Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jon Husted (R-Ohio), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), all of whom voted for Bondi. Those senators are now up for reelection and must justify that support to voters. Bondi's nomination was approved 54-46.

Collins warned the Trump administration in 2025 of “dire” consequences over decisions to remove DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents over their involvement in the investigations around the Jan. 6 attack, the local Maine NBC affiliate reported. Yet, that's exactly what each department did, purging so many people that the DOJ is now overwhelmed with more work than its skeleton crew can handle.

Bloomberg Law reported just last week that the shortage of national security staff is "unprecedented." That department has suffered a 40 percent staff loss. Collins has done nothing in her oversight role on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the staff purge that could be making the U.S. less secure.

None of these things is likely to change under a non-Bondi attorney general, Rubin explained.

She wrote that it is "important for Democrats to highlight how disreputable the [next] nominee truly is — both to hold the Republicans who vote to confirm [Bondi] responsible and to set the stage for subsequent accountability for this nominee. (Did he lie under oath? Did he reveal the illicit motives of prosecutions?)"

It is expected that Trump will nominate another loyalist, but one more devoted to his demands. As MS NOW producer Steve Benen wrote last week, Bondi wasn't fired because she refused to do what Trump demanded. She was fired because she didn't do more to go after his foes. The efforts to do exactly that have failed and even sparked ethical questions for the lawyers involved.

Those Bar Association investigations will likely preclude anyone willing to take the job from sticking their neck out to meet all of Trump's demands if there's a risk to their legal career. If Trump tries to go rogue and nominate a non-lawyer, endangered Republicans will be forced to vote to support it or face off against Trump's fury.

"When it comes to her successor, Trump assuredly will only nominate an election denier fully committed to his agenda of retribution, illegality, contempt (figuratively and literally) of federal courts, and crass partisanship. By definition, then, Trump’s nominee will be grossly unfit for the office. Voting to confirm someone willing to do Trump’s malicious bidding would violate any senator’s oath," closed Rubin.

Trump made a strategic blunder in the timeline of firing Bondi. Had he waited until this week to fire her, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche could serve in the role for 210 days, according to the Vacancies Act. As of Monday, there are 211 days until the 2026 Midterm Elections. Trump wouldn't have been forced to approve a new AG before the election and put Republicans in the difficult position of approving an extremist nominee until the lame-duck session. Because he forced Bondi out last week, Trump now must have a new nominee approved before the election.

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