Opinion: All the Justice Department needed was a new attorney general
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), The Hill, 4/17/25
For four years, Democrats and the mainstream media insisted there was only one way to prevent the horrific murders of American citizens like Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray at the hands of illegal immigrants: Pass new legislation.
Not only was this astoundingly tone-deaf, it was also verifiably false.
The laws we need to stem the tide of dangerous cartels and gang members like Tren De Aragua and MS-13 from entering our country have been on the books for decades. The truth is that Joe Biden and Merrick Garland always had the executive tools at their disposal to enforce our borders but shamefully refused to use them.
As President Trump said in his joint address to Congress: “It turned out that all we really needed was a new president” to enforce the laws as written. His first two and a half months as president have made this abundantly clear.
It also turns out that all the Department of Justice needed was a new attorney general, at the president’s side, fully committed to pursuing justice and prosecuting criminals over vindictive lawfare and villainizing law enforcement. All the department needed was someone committed to hunting down violent criminals, arresting them and putting them behind bars with punishments appropriately severe for their crimes. That new attorney general is my friend Pam Bondi, and she is rising to the occasion.
Since her swearing in on Feb. 5, Bondi has delivered more results in two months than Garland achieved his entire tenure as attorney general. It’s a testament to what heights can be reached when the leading law enforcement officer in the country has the will and resolve to create a safer nation for the American people.
As a stalwart supporter of the president and his agenda for many years now, Bondi has a long career of defending the Constitution and putting America first, especially when it comes to standing up for America’s borders.
On March 27, Bondi, along with state and federal partners, executed a pre-dawn raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspected top MS-13 leader in the country — just miles outside the nation’s capital in Virginia. Last week, the Justice Department announced the charges and convictions of multiple suspected MS-13 members in a gruesome murder in South Florida. Initially opened in 2015, this investigation is finally being closed thanks to her leadership and fierce tenacity.
And earlier this year, a Colorado nightclub was successfully raided, where dozens of alleged Tren De Aragua members were arrested for trafficking drugs and weapons.
Her crusade against these cartels doesn’t end there. On April 2, a suspected high-ranking leader of MS-13 was arrested in Long Island for his alleged role in a conspiracy responsible for 11 murders. In South Texas, multiple alleged Tren De Aragua members were arrested and charged with international drug distribution of over five kilograms of cocaine into the United States. And plans have been announced to extradite three additional suspected gang members to Chile where they are currently wanted for violent crimes.
Additionally, under Bondi’s watch, 1,573 kilograms of fentanyl, 36,861 kilograms of cocaine, and 5,918 kilograms of methamphetamine have already been seized. Thousands of illegal firearms have been taken off the streets. Human trafficking has plummeted. Violent left-wing attacks meant to terrorize Tesla owners are being prosecuted swiftly. And those individuals terrorizing pro-life pregnancy resource centers will be and are being held accountable.
It is a breath of fresh air for the public to have an attorney general committed to eradicating terrorism on our soil. The contrast between her goals and achievements and Garland’s could not be more stark.
For the past four years, under the failed leadership of Garland, the Biden Justice Department has been unjustly weaponized against its political opponents. A once respected agency, the Justice Department went after parents who exercised their First Amendment rights at school board meetings under the auspices of the Patriot Act. Not to mention, the agency has also intimidated and levied charges against Catholics for simply practicing their faith.
And of course, Garland’s Justice Department and FBI directly targeted President Trump and his family. Garland gave special counsel Jack Smith free rein to harass and intimidate Trump and his family by whatever means were necessary. The American public also witnessed an FBI raid on Trump’s home — signed off on at the highest levels of the Justice Department.
At a time when trust in our institutions is at a record low, these cynical and overtly political actions by the Biden administration only undermined the American people’s faith in their government, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
While Garland was preoccupied with weaponizing the justice system against the administration’s political opponents, he neglected to address threats directly jeopardizing the safety and security of the American people. Our borders were overrun by millions of illegal immigrants. Violent crime and human trafficking skyrocketed. Cartels flooded our communities with dangerous drugs like fentanyl — taking far too many precious lives far too soon. Garland turned a blind eye to all of it.
America was no longer safe or secure as a result. Americans were left questioning the integrity of the Justice Department for allowing foreign terrorists to harm innocent civilians, while parents, pro-lifers and Catholics were treated like domestic terrorists.
This is why the American people chose President Trump last November, to reorient our justice system. We made a much needed pivot from vengeance to justice.
By selecting Bondi as his attorney general, Trump delivered on his promise to protect the safety and security of the American people. Like I said when I introduced her to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump’s selection of Bondi as U.S. attorney general was a home run.
Not only has she been a crucial piece of Trump’s reform agenda but also she has wasted no time delivering on that agenda. A safer America is here, and Attorney General Bondi and the Department of Justice are only getting started.
Eric Schmitt is the junior senator from Missouri.