Trump eyes replacing Attorney General Bondi with EPA chief Zeldin amid Epstein furor

President Trump has discussed replacing Attorney General Pam Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, as frustration mounts at the White House over Ms. Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and a string of failed attempts to prosecute his political opponents.

The New York Times first reported the discussions Tuesday, with CNN and other outlets subsequently confirming that Mr. Trump has privately floated the idea in recent days. No final decision has been made.

Mr. Trump publicly defended Ms. Bondi in a statement, saying she is “a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.” Ms. Bondi’s allies also pointed to photographs of her accompanying the president to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, where he attended oral arguments on birthright citizenship, as evidence that any rift is overstated.

Still, CNN reported that talk of installing Mr. Zeldin at the Justice Department first arose in January, then subsided as Epstein coverage receded from the news cycle, before resurfacing in the West Wing as recently as Monday. Mr. Zeldin is not the only name under consideration but is the one Mr. Trump mentions most frequently, one source told CNN.

Among Mr. Trump’s chief grievances is Ms. Bondi’s handling of the Epstein document release, which has become a liability with the president’s base. The Justice Department also suffered a series of setbacks in its efforts to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a prominent Trump critic: Two separate grand juries declined to indict her in December after a federal judge threw out an earlier indictment, and the administration has since sought additional referrals through new legal theories.

Ms. Bondi faces additional political headwinds on Capitol Hill. The House Oversight Committee voted last month to subpoena her to testify about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, with the deposition scheduled for April 14. Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who voted against the subpoena measure when it came before the full panel, has since said he personally does not believe Ms. Bondi should sit for the deposition, though formally withdrawing the subpoena would require a full committee vote, and it is unclear whether he has the votes to do so.

Ms. Bondi drew fire earlier this year after initially suggesting an Epstein “client list” was under review at the Justice Department, only for the department to later acknowledge no such list exists. She has since said she was referring to a broader collection of investigative documents, including flight logs, rather than a specific roster of names.

A former Florida attorney general, Ms. Bondi was Mr. Trump’s second choice to lead the Justice Department after former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew from consideration in November 2024, following a lack of Senate Republican support amid a House Ethics Committee investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. She was confirmed on a mostly party-line vote of 54-46, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the lone Democrat to vote in her favor.

If Ms. Bondi were to depart, she would be the second Cabinet member to exit during Mr. Trump’s current term. Kristi Noem was removed as secretary of homeland security on March 5 following bipartisan criticism of her leadership — including controversies over the department’s deportation agenda, disaster response, and a costly ad campaign — and two contentious days of congressional testimony. Mr. Trump named Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as her successor.

Mr. Zeldin, a lawyer and Army veteran, represented New York’s 1st Congressional District before joining the administration. He lost the 2022 New York gubernatorial race to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul but remained a close Trump ally, frequently visiting Mar-a-Lago during the 2024 campaign.