President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would consider Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for any position in his administration as he weighs making changes to his Cabinet.
“I’d consider Pam Bondi for anything,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he departed for California.
Bondi and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are among those being considered to fill the role of US attorney general after Trump fired Jeff Sessions last week, sources familiar with the matter have told CNN.
Both Christie and Bondi are longtime political allies of the President’s and were initially considered contenders for the Justice Department spot during the transition.
“I know her very well,” Trump said of Bondi on Saturday. “In the meantime, she’s got a very good job. She’s doing a very good job. She’s always done a very good job. But in some form, I’d love to have her in the administration.”
The President is expected to meet with Bondi when he travels to Mar-a-Lago next week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bondi’s spokesman Whitney Ray declined to tell CNN whether she is under consideration for the top Justice Department job. Her second and final term as Florida attorney general will end in January.
Bondi could face significant hurdles to Senate confirmation over a controversy surrounding a $25,000 contribution her political action committee received from Trump’s foundation during her 2014 re-election bid.
The donation came around the time Bondi’s office was reviewing complaints about Trump University, and Democrats leveled allegations of impropriety after her office declined to pursue an investigation into Trump University fraud allegations.
A Florida ethics panel cleared Bondi of wrongdoing last year.
Trump fired Sessions last week without immediately naming a replacement, instead installing Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting attorney general.
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta also is under consideration for attorney general, according to a senior Senate Republican aide and a source familiar with the process. Other potential contenders who have cropped up in Trump-friendly circles in recent months include Whitaker, Solicitor General Noel Francisco, Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe, former Judge John Michael Luttig, Judge Edith Jones, former Judge Janice Rogers Brown, retiring South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
