Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination to be U.S . Attorney General, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Jan. 15, 2025.

What follows is not a partisan critique. It’s a call for accountability—from everyone. And in this case, it’s not just important. It’s essential.

When a lawyer takes the oath of office, it’s not just a box to check. It’s a declaration—a personal and public commitment to uphold the law, serve the truth, and act with integrity.

Pam Bondi took that oath when she joined the Florida Bar:

“I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida.”

“I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceedings which shall appear to me to be unjust…”
“To opposing parties and their counsel, I pledge fairness, integrity, and civility, not only in court, but also in all written and oral communications…. I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed…”

These aren’t just words for the record. They are specific, ethical commitments—meant to remind every member of the legal profession that justice isn’t about personal loyalty or political convenience. It’s about service to something larger than yourself.

Bondi later took a second oath as Attorney General of the United States. In that oath, she pledged to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” and to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office.”

Two oaths. One standard: impartial justice, grounded in the rule of law.

But oaths, like the Constitution itself, are only as strong as the willingness of those in power to uphold them.

Shortly after assuming office, Bondi made headlines—not for defending the law, but for defending a political agenda. In a March 2025 appearance on The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, Bondi criticized several federal judges who had ruled against President Trump’s administration and said:

Ana Reyes, James Boasberg and Beryl Howell, “are district judges trying to control our entire country,” Bondi said, “our entire country, and they are trying to obstruct Donald Trump’s agenda.”

She went further: “I think these judges need to be removed from the bench.”

Let that sink in.

The nation’s top law enforcement official called for the removal of sitting federal judges, not for corruption, not for misconduct, but for issuing rulings she disagreed with.

That’s not a defense of the Constitution, Madam Attorney General. That’s a direct challenge to judicial independence.

In remarks aimed at the issue, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized: “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision.”

Americans understand that no system is perfect. But they also understand when lines are crossed. When those entrusted with power begin to dismantle the checks and balances that make equal justice possible, the damage is profound and lasting.

The Attorney General is not the president’s lawyer; the Attorney General is not the president’s lawyer.

Let that sink in.

The job is not to remove obstacles to the President’s agenda. The job is to enforce the law equally and impartially. The power of an oath lies not in how confidently it’s spoken, but in how faithfully it’s lived.

What we tolerate, we endorse. What we overlook, we become.

We don’t need slogans or promises. We need leaders who remember what they swore to protect and demonstrate the character and to live by it. Because in the end, an oath is more than a formality. It’s a measure of trust. And trust, once broken, is not easily restored.

So, here’s the call: Attorneys, judges, lawmakers—hold the line. Speak up when the law is twisted for political ends. Defend the institutions that defend us. And when you hear someone diminish the value of an oath, remind them: a democracy cannot survive without people willing to honor their word.