Next Dem Attorney General faces a mess

[marmar]

Pam Bondi is leaving her Democratic successor a mess
The Justice Department was reformed in the wake of Watergate. A similar process will be needed after Bondi's abuses

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published February 15, 2026 9:00AM (EST)


(Salon) On Wednesday America was subjected to a monumentally outrageous performance by one of the most powerful people in the federal government — and for once it wasn’t by Donald Trump. Pam Bondi was called to Capitol Hill to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, and she chose to behave like a bratty schoolgirl having a temper tantrum in the principal’s office. If the stakes weren’t so high, it would have been almost comical to see an adult behave so childishly in such a formal setting. As it was, the attorney general embarrassed herself, the Justice Department and the country with the insulting, irrational attitude she apparently adopted to impress her boss and mentor, who has worked to shatter the rule of law.

The next Democratic-appointed attorney general will have a mess to confront and clean up. They will need their ethical, intellectual and political wits about them to craft reforms and regulations, and to restore a sense of confidence in the department’s independence. But they can also look to the not-too-distant past for inspiration.

....(snip)....

After Nixon’s resignation in August 1974, Congress realized that reforms were needed to insulate the Justice Department from political pressure by the White House. Years of congressional investigations and in-depth reporting had made the country aware of massive abuses of power by the executive branch. J. Edgar Hoover, who led the FBI for 48 years, had established a personal fiefdom devoted to consolidating power and pursuing his own personal obsessions, sometimes with blackmail and coercion. The intelligence community was implicated as well, along with Nixon’s exploitation of the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies for partisan and personal gain.

....(snip)....

The wreckage left behind is what will await the next Democratic attorney general who, with an equal commitment from Congress, will have no choice but to reform the entire department from the bottom up. At the end of Trump’s first term, the New York Times’ Peter Baker reported that Goldsmith and former Obama White House Counsel Bob Bauer created a bipartisan blueprint for what such a rebuilding would require. They proposed to restrict the president’s pardon power and private business interests, enhance protections for journalists and give more powers to future special counsels among other things. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/02/15/pam-bondi-is-leaving-her-democratic-successor-a-mess/

[themaguffin]

1. Absolutely, along with a lot of Federal agencies.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Nothing can be fixed without first expanding the court

The MAGA majority must be neutralized, and the filibuster killed to do it, otherwise all legislation to repair the damage of the Trump years will either be stalled in the senate, or overturned by SCOTUS.

[CanonRay]

3. The new AG will be so busy reorganizing

They will have no time to prosecute any of the thugs from the current administration. Time to "move on".

[milestogo]

4. If we get out of this its going to take 30-40 years to clean up this mess.

[NoRethugFriends]

5. No worries. I'm sure Merrick Garland will be up to the job

[ABC123Easy]

6. Good article, I like Salon.

After Garland, I've lost any faith and hope that the next Dem POTUS/AG will do anything to bring these GOP scumbag criminals to justice. I have absolutely NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT GARLAND so I'll keep my anger with him to myself.

I'm trying to find reasons for hope like AG Krasner but don't see many. I can't envision a President Newsom doing anything about it. I'm sorry to feel that way but I do. Maybe a President AOC would handle it but options are thin in my view.

Fingers crossed though!

[Bettie]

7. I just hope that the next Democratic AG is

willing to move aggressively instead of tiptoeing around things.