Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as the next Attorney General of the United States. Bondi, who served as Florida's Attorney General from 2011 to 2019, has been a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, representing him during his first impeachment trial in 2020 and assisting in contesting the 2020 election results.
Bondi has also been a leader on criminal justice reform efforts. During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15, 2025, she emphasized that her objective as Attorney General would be to "return the Department of Justice to its core mission" and work to get "back to basics – prosecuting violent crime and gang activity, stopping child predators and drug traffickers, protecting our nation from terrorists and other foreign threats, and addressing the overwhelming crisis at the Border."
Bondi spoke to the importance of prisoner reentry and recidivism reduction, adding during her opening remarks, “Making America safe again also requires reducing recidivism.” She later added, “I was proud to support President Trump’s First Step Act. I think more can be implemented and more can be done on that front.”
She addressed questions from Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) about reentry programs: “One thing that I just learned is the Bureau of Prisons—98% of people in the Bureau of Prisons will be released. They’re not serving life sentences. So, we must do everything we can when people are in prison to rehabilitate them for when they get out. And that is why reentry is so vital. We tell people: ‘get out of prison and become a productive member of society, go get a job,’ yet people don’t know how to go find a driver's license, they don’t know how to get to work.”
Bondi also spoke to the importance of addiction treatment programs, mental health, and other supportive services for justice-involved individuals. She also mentioned that “we need more drug courts” and highlighted for Committee members that many people who interact with the criminal justice system are “dual diagnosed” for substance use disorders and serious mental illness.
In response to questions from Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) regarding criminal justice reform legislation, Bondi responded: “(M)any people deserve to go to prison, but many people are going to get out of prison, and we don’t want a revolving door. We want to do everything we can to make productive members of society,” Bondi said. “When someone goes to prison, it often becomes a cycle. I saw this every day — a revolving door where people get out and then end up back in.”