Civil Rights Coalition Calls on Senators to Oppose Pam Bondi's ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalition, submitted a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee today on the nomination of Pam Bondi to serve as attorney general of the United States. The statement, which was submitted ahead of Ms. Bondi’s confirmation hearing and as the nation celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday today, raises profoundly troubling aspects of her record on civil rights and urges the Senate to reject her nomination.

At a time when multiracial democracy is in jeopardy, it is critical that the U.S. Department of Justice, the nation’s signature agency for the enforcement of federal civil rights laws, is led by an attorney general who is committed to defending the civil and human rights of all people. As the statement notes, “In our democracy, the attorney general is the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer, and has a sacred duty to enforce our nation’s laws without prejudice and with an eye toward justice. She must be seen by the public — every member of the public, from every community — as a fair arbiter of our legal system.”

The statement continues: “With the threats proposed in Project 2025, the America First Policy Institute’s ‘America First Agenda,’ and the president-elect’s statements, the dangers posed to our multiracial democracy and to our fundamental civil and human rights are substantial. Unfortunately, a careful review of Ms. Bondi’s record has led us to conclude that she will not vigorously enforce our country’s civil rights laws as they were intended and that she will not uphold the agency’s longstanding independence from undue political influences.”

The letter highlights examples of Ms. Bondi’s unacceptable record on voting rights and election denial, LGBTQ rights, the census, and access to health care and reproductive rights, in addition to her unflinching loyalty to the president-elect and concerns about how she would politicize the Justice Department.

“Ms. Bondi lacks the commitment to defending the core tenets of our democracy and the civil and human rights of all people. Indeed, her active participation in and support of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election ought to be disqualifying in itself. Her actions raise serious doubts about her devotion to the rule of law, her professional legal judgment, and her ability to run a law enforcement agency without undue influence from Trump. It is worth noting that several other lawyers associated with this effort have been disciplined and even disbarred for their actions,” the statement notes.

The full letter is available here. The Leadership Conference also previously responded to the president-elect’s nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to lead the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Background

January 15-17, 2025 marks 75 years since the National Emergency Civil Rights Mobilization in 1950, when more than 4,000 delegates descended on Washington to lobby for civil rights legislation. Though every bill challenging the grip of white supremacy died on the Senate floor, the event’s organizers believed they had too much momentum to turn around — and so created the beginnings of the Leadership Conference coalition. Since our coalition’s founding 75 years ago, The Leadership Conference has served as the lobbying arm of the civil rights movement and has coordinated the advocacy efforts on behalf of every major civil rights law since the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which created the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The Leadership Conference continues this vital work today, including through our opposition to Ms. Bondi’s nomination.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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