WHITE HOUSE: Bondi Pick For AG Looks To Have More Chance Of Confirmation

Following the withdrawal of former Rep. Matt Gaetz from the process to become the next US Attorney General, President-elect Donald Trump moved swiftly in nominating former Florida AG Pam Bondi for the role. Bondi, who served in the Florida AG role from 2011-19, sat on Trump's legal team during his first impeachment process and became an increasingly prominent figure on the campaign trail ahead of the Nov 5 election. Like Trump's other prominent Cabinet picks, Bondi is viewed as a loyalist to the president-elect, but does not come with the sizeable political baggage of Gaetz and as such is much more likely to make it through the Senate confirmation process. 

• NYT reports, “If you look at all the possible alternatives, this is a sober pick,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State College of Law professor. “We don’t know what will come to fruition, but unlike Gaetz she does not seem hellbent on turning the department into a political weapon”."
• As MNI noted following Gaetz's withdrawal (see 'US: Gaetz Withdraws Nomination For Attorney General', 1751GMT 21 Nov) "there has been some speculation in the liberal media that Gaetz's nomination may have had a secondary goal of easing Senate passage for other challenging nominees, including Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary." Indeed, in the hours following this, there were some signals from GOP senators that Hegseth's confirmation process could prove smoother than Gaetz's would have.