Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
“Senate Confirmation of Pam Bondi to be Attorney General”
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
In a few moments, we’ll vote to confirm Pam Bondi as the Attorney General of the United States.
Before we do, I’d like to speak in support of her nomination, and in doing that, urge my colleagues to vote for her – hopefully in a bipartisan way, like we had for Garland under the Biden administration.
Ms. Bondi has been nominated to one of the most important offices in our country, and she’s shown that she’s up to that task.
Her impressive record and presentation at her hearing are proof that she’s ready to take the helm of the Justice Department.
Ms. Bondi made history in 2010 as the first woman elected to be Florida’s Attorney General.
She held this role for eight years, after she was comfortably reelected by the people of Florida to that second term.
Eight years of service as attorney general of the third largest state in this Union is excellent preparation for the role of Attorney General of the United States.
As Florida’s Attorney General, Ms. Bondi was a member of the Florida cabinet, [Florida’s] chief legal officer and led a very large agency.
She handled many issues at the state level that she’ll be handling at the federal level. And by all accounts, she’s handled these jobs expertly.
As Attorney General, Ms. Bondi didn’t shy away from hard work or complicated problems.
She engaged in an aggressive campaign to eliminate pill mills, took a leading role in securing a $3.25 billion settlement following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and eliminated the backlog of rape kits.
She also stood for law and order and sought justice for victims of violent criminals.
Her record shows that she’s highly qualified to be Attorney General for the United States.
During her confirmation hearing, Ms. Bondi answered questions for more than five hours.
What we learned during her hearing reinforced what we knew from her existing record as Attorney General of Florida – she’s a tough, fair, career prosecutor, who built her reputation by enforcing the rule of law.
We also heard from witnesses who praised Ms. Bondi’s character, fairness and willingness to work with members of both parties to solve the problems in Florida.
We’re sure she’s going to work the same way as Attorney General of the United States.
So, what did we hear from these witnesses?
We heard from an elected Democrat who never voted for President Trump. He said Ms. Bondi was fair, tethered to the rule of law and could work with both Democrats and Republicans to serve the American people.
We heard from Florida’s statewide prosecutor, who praised her competence running the legal department, as I’ve said, of the third largest state in the Union.
We heard from a Florida Sherriff, who testified about her commitment to law and order, and to her partnerships with law enforcement to keep Floridians safe.
These witnesses have worked with Ms. Bondi for decades, and they all vouch for her capability and character.
Ms. Bondi’s nomination has also received a flood of support from all across America.
I have a group of people here who expressed their views through letters to the Committee.
Law enforcement groups representing more than 650,000 officers wrote to urge us to support Ms. Bondi’s nomination.
A few of these groups include the National Association of Police Organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, Major County Sheriffs, National Narcotic Officers Associations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and still some others.
This support is a testament to Ms. Bondi’s history of backing the blue.
We should all be backing the blue – I met with some law enforcement people, just before coming over here.
I tell every one of them, “I’m not for defunding the police, and thank you for keeping the peace.”
We’ve also received letters of support from more than 100 former senior DOJ officials, scores of former United States attorneys, dozens of state Attorneys General, women’s rights groups, Second Amendment groups and of course others.
Between her record, her presentation in Committee and the support she’s received from across the country, I’m convinced that Ms. Bondi is the right choice.
When confirmed, Ms. Bondi will take the helm at a turbulent time and of a Justice Department infected with political decision-making, and its leaders refusing to acknowledge that reality – in other words, political decision making on the 7th floor of the Hoover Building.
Here are a few examples of political decision making and infection in the Department.
First, Crossfire Hurricane.
Second, the Justice Department targeting my staff – yeah, that’s right, my investigative staff – who at the time was investigating, at my direction, the government’s abuses in Crossfire Hurricane.
Third, the cover-up of the Hunter Biden laptop story and sweetheart plea deals offered by the Department of Justice to Hunter Biden.
Fourth, the FBI’s inappropriate briefing to me and Senator Johnson during our Biden family investigation that was later leaked, and nothing’s supposed to be leaked from, what we call, the “SCIF.”
Fifth, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s lawfare operation – in other words, trying to put now-President Trump in jail.
Sixth, the targeting of traditional Catholics, concerned parents and abortion protestors as security threats.
Seventh, the coordinated censorship of political speech.
I don’t have an eighth, ninth, eleventh and twelfth – but they exist. I’m not going to take your time on that.
Now, all these things that I’ve mentioned, plus things that I haven’t mentioned, are very serious breaches of the public trust.
We can’t tolerate that sort of breach.
I’m confident Ms. Bondi will not tolerate that breach, and I’m looking forward to working with her to shed sunlight on these abuses.
Sunlight is the best [disinfectant]… we need more transparency in government, and transparency brings accountability.
Now, I’ve already released new FBI records, in fact, just last week, with Senator Johnson that show even more political bias within the Justice Department and FBI.
These records prove that former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Thibault, a known anti-Trump agent, authored the initial language for what ultimately became Jack Smith’s federal case against Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election.
That case was codenamed “Arctic Frost.”
These records that we released last week showed a scheme in play between the Justice Department and FBI officials to get Trump.
I had to rely on brave whistleblowers to uncover the truth, because I was stonewalled by the Justice Department and the FBI.
I was stonewalled even after they promised, at their own confirmation hearings, that they would answer the letters that Congress wrote them.
We never got any answers – in fact, there’s 158 [letters] over the last four years that I’ve written to the FBI on my investigation that I have not gotten answers to.
So, if you wonder why I’m so passionate about Pam Bondi – I’m confident that she’s going to take a different approach.
When she says “yes” to answering our letters, it’ll be a “yes,” instead of what the other people should’ve said, which is “maybe.”
As the recent terrorist attacks in New Orleans and around the world have shown, we’re faced with very serious threats to our national security.
The President needs his team in place to protect our country, and the American people deserve a secure homeland and borders, safe streets and orderly markets.
We need to swiftly confirm a capable and serious Attorney General to get to work.
I’m disappointed that none of my Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee voted for Ms. Bondi in Committee. I hope it’ll be different when we get to the full Senate.
We had a bipartisan vote, as I’ve said previously, for Attorney General Garland – maybe in hindsight, we shouldn’t have, but we did have.
There’s no doubt that Ms. Bondi is highly qualified. In Committee, several of my Democratic colleagues even acknowledged as much.
She’s qualified for the job, and she represents mainstream views shared by at least the 77 million Americans who voted for change on November 5th.
This should earn her the same bipartisan support this body gave Attorney General Garland – that’s the third time I’ve said that.
If my colleagues will not cross the aisle to vote for this qualified nominee, they’ll show that Senate Democrats are intent on opposing President’s Trump’s cabinet picks for purely partisan reasons, [since] they’ve admitted how fully qualified she is to do the job.
So, ending now, I say once again, I proudly support Ms. Bondi, and I look forward to confirming her.
She’s ready and able to serve our country well, and I know she’ll work with President Trump to restore faith in the Justice Department.
I urge all of my colleagues to join me in confirming Ms. Bondi.
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