Pam Bondi Is the Latest Trump Official to Face Calls for Her Impeachment

Members of President Trump's cabinet have often delighted in being able to get into heated arguments with members of Congress. Attorney General Pam Bondi did that yesterday, going back and forth with lawmakers of both parties about everything from the Epstein files to the stock market (that was actually just one exchange).

Following her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, many wanted to know whether it was possible for her to be impeached. While the idea of Bondi being impeached seems a little far-fetched, here's what we know about whether it would be possible.

As Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution explains, "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

The president and vice president are the only two officers who are called out by name, there, along with "civil officers of the United States."

While that piece has been left up to interpretation, Congress has asserted its ability to impeach cabinet level officials like Bondi more than once throughout its history. It's therefore widely greed upon that Congress has the power to impeach the top level of political appointees inside the Executive branch. What's less clear is how far down in the chain of command Congress's power extends.

Although Congress has the power to impeach Bondi or any other attorney general, it seems highly unlikely that they will actually use that power. Because Bondi refused to answer questions about the Epstein files and didn't acknowledge Epstein's victims who were in attendance for the hearing, there were even some on the right who were calling for Bondi to be impeached, an unusual moment of friction inside the party.

“When the Attorney General of the United States is asked why she has prosecuted no one related to Jeffrey Epstein, and this is her answer, she should be fired or resign," conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote online. “But neither will happen, which is another reason the Democrats are going to have a good election year.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, who has been the chief Republican advocating for the release of the Epstein files, also suggested that Bondi's testimony wasn't satisfactory, although he didn't say she should be impeached.

“She didn’t answer anything. She came here ready to talk about the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq, which seems kind of crazy to me," he said after the hearing.

Pam Bondi's testimony comes after millions of files were released in relation to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, many of which implicate people inside the Trump administration. It's possible that Bondi refused to discuss Epstein in part because she knows what the president thinks about the release of those files. What's just as likely, though, is that she understood that, although Congress has the power to impeach her, that doesn't necessarily mean they will.