US attorney general designee Pam Bondi fended off onslaughts from California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla at her confirmation hearing Wednesday, both of whom grilled her about President-elect Donald Trump.

From the hearing's outset, Democratic senators' questions reflected valid and critical concerns but often in a poorly framed manner.

Kathleen Parker watched the confirmation hearing for our possible (okay, probable) next attorney general, and thought Pam Bondi gave all sorts of nice, “reassuring” answers that were “crisp and succinct.”

Pam Bondi, Donald Trump's choice for attorney general, survived an at times contentious hearing while declining to say if Joe Biden won the 2020 vote.

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, listens during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) The best thing about Pam Bondi is that she’s not Matt Gaetz,

The Senate Judiciary Committee had a confirmation hearing for Pam Bondi, Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General. Cable news cut away. Here's why.

Trump nominated Bondi for the position after his initial pick for attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew amid sexual misconduct allegations .

Witnesses speaking on her behalf included former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, an outspoken Democrat. Aronberg, who ran for Florida Attorney General the same year Bondi won the statewide office, noted that despite a partisan rivalry, she hired him as Florida’s drug czar.

One lever available to Trump is ordering the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to audit his rivals: during the first Trump White House, former FBI Director James Comey was put through a brutal, forensic audit. Nonprofit journalism newsrooms that criticise the President-elect could have their charitable status revoked by the Treasury Department.

President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration comes at a pivotal time in American history. Insulated from controversy, Trump will enter the White House more prepared than when he first won in 2016.

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Ben Curtis/AP)