With Attorney General Pam Bondi out at the Department of Justice, the Second Amendment community faces an urgent question: who should replace her? The wrong pick could squander the most pro-gun DOJ in American history. Here is a frank assessment of who should — and should not — be the next attorney general, viewed through the lens of firearms rights.
Credit Where It Is Due
Under Bondi and Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, the DOJ compiled an unprecedented pro-Second Amendment track record. Dhillon personally argued before the Seventh Circuit in an assault weapons ban challenge. The DOJ sued the District of Columbia over its AR-15 bans and standard-capacity magazine restrictions. It sued California licensing jurisdictions for excessive delays. It established a dedicated Second Amendment task force — a historic first.
Bondi did not cause the DOJ’s Second Amendment missteps. But she failed to stop them, likely because she did not fully grasp the strategic complexity of the litigation decisions being made beneath her.
Who Should Not Get the Job
Todd Blanche and D. John Sauer. The deputy attorney general and solicitor general, respectively, are talented lawyers. Blanche is a former federal prosecutor out of the Southern District of New York, and Sauer clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia. Neither is a bad person or a bad lawyer.
But there is a strong case that the DOJ’s worst Second Amendment decisions originated from their operations. It was the Solicitor General’s office that pushed United States v. Rahimi to the Supreme Court — a case involving a defendant who admitted to cocaine and marijuana use and had deeply unsympathetic facts. Far stronger vehicles were available: Range v. Attorney General in the Third Circuit presented a sympathetic defendant whose only offense was a decades-old food stamp violation, and Reese v. ATF in the Fifth Circuit offered an ideal vehicle on young adult gun rights for 18-to-20-year-olds.
Bad facts make bad law. Justices Alito and Roberts are law-and-order jurists who do not look kindly on drug-related defendants. Pushing Rahimi when sympathetic alternatives existed was a strategic blunder. Elevating the people likely responsible to run the entire department would be a mistake.
Harmeet Dhillon. This recommendation comes from admiration, not criticism. Dhillon is a force of nature at the Civil Rights Division, doing groundbreaking work on voting integrity, religious liberty, anti-discrimination enforcement, and Second Amendment advocacy. Pulling her out to make her attorney general — where she would be consumed by death penalty cases, congressional testimony, sentencing guidelines, and managing dozens of U.S. Attorney’s offices — would be a terrible waste of her focused effectiveness. The best salesperson is not always the right sales manager. Dhillon should stay where she is.
Who Should Get Serious Consideration
Lee Zeldin. The EPA administrator and former New York congressman has demonstrated exactly the qualities needed. Zeldin proved at the EPA that he will confront entrenched bureaucratic resistance, most notably by dismantling the endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act. He carries an A rating from the NRA, opposes assault weapons bans, supports concealed carry, and took a strong stance against Operation Choke Point. The trade-off of losing him at EPA may be worth making.
The Senate Math Problem
Any nominee must survive Senate confirmation, and the math is tighter than it looks. The Republican majority is not a MAGA majority. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is unreliable on Trump nominees. Senator Susan Collins of Maine faces a difficult reelection and may need to distance herself on a high-profile vote. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, now retiring after clashing with Trump, has little incentive to cooperate. And if Ken Paxton defeats John Cornyn in the Texas Senate runoff, Cornyn could cast a spite vote on his way out.
This was the danger of removing Bondi in the first place. There was never a guarantee the Second Amendment community would get someone better. The next attorney general must clear a confirmation gauntlet with very little margin for error.
What Matters Most
Whoever fills this role needs one quality above all others: the willingness to override career DOJ attorneys and the Solicitor General’s office when they push the wrong cases to the Supreme Court. The affirmative posture Bondi established must be preserved, but paired with strategic control over which cases reach the high court. Supreme Court precedent cannot be undone by the next administration. Getting the wrong case before the Court is a mistake that echoes for decades.
This article is based on analysis by Mark W. Smith on The Four Boxes Diner. Watch the original video. This does not constitute legal advice.