WASHINGTON >> Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, refused to explicitly say she would defy White House pressure — or admit that Trump lost the 2020 election — and instead offered a promise that “politics will not play a part” in her work at a confirmation hearing Wednesday that repeatedly turned heated.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, accused her time and again of failing to answer simple questions on election denialism, prosecution of the news media and her stance on White House meddling in the department. Bondi sought to project the image of an independent, crime-fighting prosecutor, while repeatedly expressing loyalty to Trump and her belief that he had been the victim of politically motivated prosecution by the Biden administration. And she would not admit that Trump lost the 2020 election.

“It’s disturbing that you can’t give voice to that fact,” Hirono said.

Bondi also tangled with both senators from California, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. Schiff asked her if she saw any factual basis to investigate members of the congressional committee that examined the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Bondi refused to answer Schiff’s questions, calling them hypothetical, and said he should be more worried about crime rates in California.

At one point, Bondi suggested that whatever presidential pardons for Jan. 6 defendants are coming, they might not be granted to those convicted of assaulting police officers. “I’m not going to speak for the president, but the president does not like people who abuse police officers either,” she said.

Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, who represented Trump during one of his impeachment cases, faced deep skepticism from Democrats about whether she would be able to stand up to any efforts by Trump to prosecute his political opponents. “I need to know that you will tell the president no,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, said in his opening statement.

In other hearings Wednesday, Sen. Brian Schatz, D- Hawaii, was among those who questioned Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s choice for secretary of state, who warned that the U.S. must change course to avoid becoming more reliant on China, as he promised a robust foreign policy focused on American interests.

The remarks from the Republican senator, who is expected to comfortably win confirmation as the nation’s top diplomat, sent a stark message about changes in U.S. policy.

Rubio, 53, addressed major international issues in a friendly hearing before a committee where he has served for 14 years. He said an end to the war in Ukraine was essential with both sides having to make concessions, but spoke most strongly about the need to confront China. Rubio’s nomination is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate as soon as Monday, the day Trump is inaugurated for a second term.

Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee to head the Transportation Department said Boeing needs “tough love” to get back on track after a 2024 midair emergency and that electric vehicles should pay to use roads.

“We have to make sure they are implementing their safety plan. We have to push the (Federal Aviation Administration) to make sure they’re implementing their safety plan,” former House lawmaker Sean Duffy told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee at his confirmation hearing.

Duffy said he would work “with Congress and the FAA to restore global confidence in Boeing and to ensure our skies are safe.”

———

Tribune News Service and Reuters contributed to this report.

© 2025 The New York Times Company