Who Is Lee Zeldin? Possibly Trump's Next Attorney General [View all]

Lee Zeldin, currently the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is understood to be the leading candidate for Attorney General after President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi.

https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/lee-zeldin-attorney-general-pam-bondi-trump-fire/



Trump dismissed Bondi on Thursday after she faced significant backlash over her department’s handling of the Epstein files, documents related to the investigation into convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Bondi is scheduled to face a deposition before the congressional House Oversight Committee later this month related to the Epstein investigation and transparency of the files.

“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, praising her record on reducing murders and other crimes. “We love Pam, and she 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.”

Trump has also reportedly expressed private dissatisfaction that Bondi did not pursue investigations into his critics aggressively enough. At Trump’s behest, the DOJ under Bondi has pursued criminal investigations into several of Trump’s perceived political adversaries, most of whom are Democrats. These include probes into New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Sen. Adam Schiff, Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The DOJ has so far failed to secure indictments in any of the cases, although some are ongoing.

Bondi was confirmed as Attorney General with a 54-46 vote last February, after Trump’s initial pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R, Fla.), withdrew from consideration amid scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct. Bondi told lawmakers at her confirmation hearing that she would not target people based on their politics, citing criminal cases against Trump. Last month, Trump replaced Kristi Noem with Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Secretary, making Noem the first Cabinet member to be removed during Trump’s second term.

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