OPPOSE THE NOMINATION OF THE HONORABLE PAMELA JO BONDI TO BE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
January 29, 202592 Civil Rights Organizations Oppose Bondi as Potential U.S. Attorney General
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalition with a diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations working to build an America as good as its ideals, and the undersigned 92 organizations, we write to express strong opposition to the nomination of the Honorable Pamela Jo Bondi to serve as the next attorney general of the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was created more than 150 years ago in part to enforce the Reconstruction Amendments aimed at abolishing slavery, ensuring equal protection under the law, and securing voting rights for Black Americans. Today, the department continues its historic role as the nation’s signature agency for the enforcement of our federal civil rights laws and for upholding the principles of equality and justice that are foundational to American democracy. This enduring mission of the DOJ requires that anyone who leads the department have demonstrated their commitment to defending the civil and human rights of all people and to ensuring the DOJ is fair and independent. In our democracy, the attorney general is the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer, and has a sacred duty to enforce our nation’s laws without prejudice and with an eye toward justice. She must be seen by the public — every member of the public, from every community — as fair and independent.
This is particularly important given the known threats to our multiracial democracy and our civil rights proposed in Project 2025, the America First Policy Institute’s “America First Agenda,” and the president’s previous term in office and past statements. Unfortunately, after a careful review of Ms. Bondi’s record, and after hearing her responses to questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee, we have concluded that she will not vigorously enforce our country’s civil rights laws as they were intended and that she will not uphold the agency’s longstanding independence from undue political influences.
To start, Ms. Bondi’s active participation in and support of President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election ought to be disqualifying. Her record and her responses in the hearing reflect many positions that render her unfit for this role, including her inability to be independent and her troubling record on voting rights, LGBTQ rights, access to health care, the census, environmental justice, and immigration.