AG Pam Bondi Warns DOJ Attorneys They Must Defend Trump’s Policies or Face Termination
Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General, speaks to reporters outside an election integrity volunteer training. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, File)
Attorney General Pam Bondi has sent a clear message to career Justice Department officials: support President Donald Trump’s executive policies without hesitation—or risk losing your job. In a newly circulated memo, flagged by Lawfare’s Anna Bower on Wednesday evening, Bondi laid out her expectations for DOJ attorneys, making it clear that political disagreements will not be tolerated in the department.
“The responsibilities of Department of Justice attorneys include not only aggressively enforcing criminal and civil laws enacted by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions against legal challenges on behalf of the United States,” Bondi wrote. She warned that DOJ lawyers do not have the “latitude to substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.”
Bondi’s memo signals an uncompromising stance against any internal resistance within the DOJ, particularly from career officials who may disagree with Trump’s policies. “When Department of Justice attorneys, for example, refuse to advance good-faith arguments by declining to appear in court or sign briefs, it undermines the constitutional order and deprives the President of the benefit of his lawyers,” she continued, told KTSM 9 News.
She went on to state that any attorney who refuses to defend the administration in court fails to sign legal briefs, or otherwise impedes the DOJ’s mission will face consequences. “It is therefore the policy of the Department of Justice that any attorney who, because of their personal political views or judgments, declines to sign a brief or appear in court, refuses to advance good-faith arguments on behalf of the Administration, or otherwise delays or impedes the Department’s mission will be subject to discipline and potentially termination, consistent with applicable law.”
Bondi’s directive follows the termination of several career prosecutors who had worked under special counsel Jack Smith in Trump’s criminal cases. Her predecessor, acting under Trump, also dismissed 30 prosecutors involved in the January 6 insurrection cases after Trump granted mass clemency to rioters on his first day back in office.
The move was highly unusual. Traditionally, incoming administrations only replace U.S. attorneys leading federal districts—not career prosecutors. Reports indicate that Trump personally ordered the dismissals, with officials working under him providing cover for the decision.
With Bondi now enforcing a strict loyalty test, the Justice Department is undergoing one of the most aggressive purges of career officials in modern history, further solidifying Trump’s influence over the nation’s legal system.
