Pam Bondi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pam Bondi
Official portrait, 2011
87th United States Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office February 5, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	Todd Blanche (nominee)
Preceded by	Merrick Garland
37th Florida Attorney General
In office January 4, 2011 – January 8, 2019
Governor	Rick Scott
Preceded by	Bill McCollum
Succeeded by	Ashley Moody
Personal details
Born	Pamela Jo Bondi (1965-11-17) November 17, 1965 (age 59) Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Republican (2000–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (until 2000)
Spouses	Garret Barnes ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1992)​ Scott Fitzgerald ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2002)​
Domestic partners	John Wakefield (2017⁠–⁠present)
Education	University of Florida (BA) Stetson University (JD)

Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who is serving as the 87th United States attorney general since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office.

In 2020, Bondi was one of President Donald Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial. She became a vocal supporter of Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, and made claims of election fraud. By 2024, she led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. On November 21, 2024, President-elect Trump announced she would be nominated for attorney general. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4, 2025, and sworn in the next day.

Early life and education

Pamela Jo Bondi was born on November 17, 1965. Her hometown is Temple Terrace, Florida. Her father, Joseph Bondi, was a city council member and then mayor of Temple Terrace. She is a graduate of C. Leon King High School in Tampa.

Bondi received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in criminal justice from the University of Florida in 1987 and a Juris Doctor from the Stetson University College of Law in 1990. She was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority as an undergraduate student. Bondi was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991.

Early career

Bondi was a prosecutor and spokeswoman in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was an assistant state attorney.

Attorney General of Florida (2011–2019)

Elections

Bondi ran for Florida attorney general in the 2010 election, facing off against former state representative Holly Benson and lieutenant governor Jeff Kottkamp in the Republican primary. In a competitive field, Bondi notably received the support of former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. The Palm Beach Post credited her surge in support in the primary to her media-savviness, including regular appearances on Fox News and her public association with Sean Hannity.

Polling conducted by Mason Dixon in August 2010 found her leading both Benson and Kottkamp in the primary. She ultimately won the primary with 37.89% of the vote. In the general election, she faced Democratic nominee Dan Gelber, a former prosecutor who spent 10 years in the state legislature. She ultimately comfortably defeated Gelber to become the state's first female attorney general.

Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote. Her Democratic challenger George Sheldon, the former acting commissioner of the Administration for Children and Families, received 42%.

Tenure

Bondi with Florida Governor Rick Scott in 2011

Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) in Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. In the lawsuit the state of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the United States Constitution.

In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums or denying them coverage outright.

Bondi defended Amendment 2, a 2008 amendment to the Florida Constitution banning same-sex marriage, against legal challenges on behalf of the state.

Return to private life

Lobbyist work

Bondi in 2018

In 2019, after her final term as Florida attorney general, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump, and she began working as a registered foreign agent as a lobbyist for the Embassy of the State of Qatar. She registered as a foreign agent for the Embassy of the State of Qatar and as a partner in the lobbyist firm of Ballard Partners under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. She left the Qatari project in 2019 to work in a temporary position for the White House Counsel for President Trump's first impeachment proceedings. Bondi worked as a lobbyist at Ballard Partners until as late as 2024.

Trump's first impeachment proceedings

In November 2019, she was hired by the first Trump administration to help the White House during Trump's first impeachment proceedings. Her position was described the following month as being to "attack the process" of the impeachment inquiry. On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial.

2020 presidential election

Bondi with U.S. Representative Mike Johnson and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in 2022

Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Bondi became a vocal supporter of Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat. While ballots were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, Bondi supported Trump's claims that there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Board of Trustees and U.S. political advocacy work

During the following lame-duck session, Trump appointed Bondi to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Palm Beach Post described the appointment as a reward for her loyalty to Trump.

By 2024, Bondi led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit that planned policies for a potential second Trump presidency. She worked to file voting lawsuits in battleground states relating to the 2024 presidential election.

Attorney General of the United States (2025–present)

Nomination and confirmation

On November 21, 2024, president-elect Trump announced she would be nominated for United States attorney general, after the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz for that position. On January 29, 2025, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination in a 12–10 vote, with all Democrats opposing her nomiantion. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4, 2025. The only Democratic Senator who voted "aye" was Senator John Fetterman. She was sworn in the following day by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Personal life

Bondi is of Italian descent, with roots in Campania, Italy. She married Garret Barnes in 1990; the couple divorced after 22 months of marriage. In 1996, Bondi married Scott Fitzgerald; they divorced in 2002. She was engaged to Greg Henderson in 2012. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with John Wakefield.

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Pam Bondi para niños

• List of female state attorneys general in the United States