Bondi Addresses DOJ Independence, Rubio Warns of China Threat at Hearings

Sen. Marco Rubio and Pam Bondi—President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state and attorney general, respectively—face questions from senators during their confirmation hearings today. Trump’s picks for energy secretary, CIA director, OMB director, and transportation secretary also appear before Senate panels.

At Vought's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, ranking member Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) grilled him over his actions at the agency during Trump's first presidency. Vought was first the deputy director and then the acting director of the OMB at that time.

Peters highlighted the OMB's "illegal" withholding of $214 million Congress appropriated to the U.S. Department of Defense to aid Ukraine. The senator went on to say the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined the OMB's actions under Vought's direction were a violation of federal law.

"Your past actions and public statements suggest that you may not follow this law in the future," Peters said. "If you are confirmed as OMB director again, do you commit to follow the law?"

Vought replied that he "will always commit to upholding the law." But he said he disagreed with the GAO's assessment of his actions and that his office did not "inappropriately" withhold funds. Instead, the money was released by the end of that fiscal year.

As part of his Jan. 15 confirmation hearing ahead of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Vought said he is not "a person who has wanted to have government shutdowns."

His answer was in response to a comment made by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who said the former acting head of the OMB has "repeatedly called for brinkmanship around government shutdowns and opposed bipartisan deals to keep the government open."

Hassan cited an article from 2011 that, she said, quoted Vought as saying the GOP needs to be prepared to shut down the U.S. government if the political situation calls for it to demonstrate that the party is "playing to win."

"Why have you repeatedly advocated the use of the threat of a government shutdown as a political bargaining chip?" Hassan asked Vought during the hearing. "If confirmed, would you continue to favor a partisan agenda over keeping the government open?"

Vought said he wants to be part of the process that keeps the budgeting process moving quickly in order to avoid "pile-ups."

“Will you as attorney general investigate and make every effort to find those children and, if they are subject to abuse, get them out of those abusive situations that the federal government has put them into?” Cruz asked.

On Jan. 15, Vought, who served as the OMB's deputy director from March 2018 to July 2020, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as part of his confirmation process after being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the executive agency's director.

In his opening statement, Vought said he will work on building a better future for the United States.

Vought said 80 percent of Americans now believe their children will lead worse lives than they do, without citing a source. That, Vought said, is a significant increase from 40 percent of Americans who said they felt the same way 20 years ago.

"When I look at government waste and international debt, I know I fear for my daughter's future," Vought said. "Almost half of our fellow citizens expect their standard of living to be worse than that of their parents."

If confirmed, Vought said he would work to shape an executive branch budget and federal spending mindset that reforms regulations and coordinates policies across agencies to "ensure efficient and effective implementation of the American people's will."

Vought went on to say that Americans are dealing with higher prices and a lower standard of living due to inflation driven by "irresponsible federal spending." He said the average American household has lost about $2,000 in spending power since January 2021.

"The forgotten men and women of this country, those who work hard every day in cities and towns across this country, deserve a government that empowers them to achieve their dreams," Vought said.

Welch asked if she had any discussions with Trump on appointing a special prosecutor to go after President Joe Biden, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), or former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

Bondi replied no.

Welch asked if she had any discussions with the president-elect about prosecuting every member of the congressional Jan. 6 Committee.

She said no.

The democratic senator said that Bondi's answers satisfied his concerns.

“My understanding and listening to your answers to the questions along this line is that you have no intention … of pursuing people on the basis of them being a political opponent,” he said.

“No one will be prosecuted or investigated because they are a political opponent,” Bondi replied. “That's what we've seen for the last four years in this administration.”

The senator responded to her comment, saying that he disagreed with that description of the past four years, but his primary concern was to know that the Justice Department would not pursue political adversaries going into the next four years.

“I'm very happy to listen to your responses under oath, Miss Bondi,” the senator said.

Hirono then cited a comment Bondi made on Fox News last year, in which she said bad prosecutors will be prosecuted and asked Bondi to identify them.

The senator specifically asked if former special counsel Jack Smith, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and Attorney General Merrick Garland would be prosecuted.

Bondi said she refused to answer hypotheticals, while Hirono talked over her, demanding a yes or no answer.

While Taiwan has a de facto independent government, the CCP has long considered the island a part of mainland Chinese territory. Since the 1970s, the United States has affirmed a “One China” policy that formally recognizes the CCP-controlled People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate Chinese government and holds that Taiwan is a part of China.

Still, the United States has maintained informal ties with Taiwan and has insisted the territorial dispute be resolved peacefully. The United States has kept a position of strategic ambiguity as to whether it would intervene militarily to prevent the PRC from seizing Taiwan by force.

“You want to make the cost of invading Taiwan higher than the benefit. We want to discourage that by the Chinese believing that, yes, could they ultimately win an invasion of Taiwan, but the price would be too high to pay,” Rubio said.

He said deterring the CCP from ever pursuing an invasion is critical, not just to preserve Taiwan’s status but to avoid a U.S. military intervention, which he said would be cataclysmic for the Indo–Pacific region.

Rubio said that an invasion of Taiwan is not some distant hypothetical but a real objective of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

He criticized the Biden administration for offering tax credits for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, suggesting it was an example of Washington, D.C., “insert[ing] itself in … the relationship between manufacturers and consumers.”

Moreno believes those policies benefit China, as the country struggles to compete with U.S. internal combustion engines.

“Instead, [China] decided to go all in on electric vehicles, and they've now convinced a lot of people here in this city that electric vehicles [are] the only path forward,” Moreno said.

He asked Duffy if he supports automakers producing cars that “consumers truly want and are truly demanding.”

Duffy said Americans “shouldn't be forced to buy cars that Washington wants.”

“We should go buy the cars that we want,” he said.

Calling such threats an “invasion through our digital border,” Ratcliffe said the United States needs to impose greater consequences on nations seeking to violate the integrity of U.S. telecommunication and digital systems in order to deter future aggression.

“They have elements that the Soviet Union never possessed,” the prospective incoming secretary of state said during a confirmation hearing Wednesday. “They are a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor.”

Rubio added that the regime poses an “extraordinary challenge” in every realm and that it’s one that “will define the 21st century.”

The United States has allowed Beijing to militarize island chains in the South China Sea and conduct human rights abuses, including the targeting of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, he said.

“​​For years, no one talked about it, which, by the way, not just has a human rights component to it. It allows them to use slave labor to produce goods at the expense of the rest of the world,” Rubio said.

“We've allowed them to get away with things, and frankly, the Chinese did what any country in the world would do, given these opportunities—they took advantage of it. And so I think now we're dealing with the ramifications of it.”

Rubio said, in less than 10 years, “virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not.”

The FACE Act “protected patients, providers, and facilities that provide reproductive health services,” the senator said. “Will you commit to continuing to enforce the FACE Act to address violence and threats against those providing reproductive health care services?”

Bondi affirmed that she would uphold the law. The FACE Act prohibits interference with obtaining or providing abortions, and pro-life groups and individuals have been prosecuted for attempting to stop pregnant women from getting an abortion.

Rubio said his views of the war changed as it appeared the fighting had reached a stalemate. He said President Joe Biden’s administration had failed to articulate a clear end goal for the conflict, leading him to ask: “What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting money towards?”

Rubio said, on many occasions, the Biden administration’s answer “sounded like: 'However much it takes for however long it takes.'”

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for negotiations to end the fighting. Rubio said such talks will require Russia, Ukraine, and the United States to be willing to make concessions.

While broadly supporting negotiations, Rubio expressed wariness at the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin will push to maximize Ukrainian neutrality while buying time for his forces to refit to resume the fighting at a later time.

In Kansas, Spirit AeroSystems—a Boeing supplier—is one of the state’s largest private employers, Moran said. He asked Duffy what he would do at the Transportation Department to get Boeing “back in business.”

“Boeing is a national security issue,” Duffy said. “Boeing is the largest exporter of American product … they need tough love.”

He said he would work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure Boeing implements its safety plan, which the agency mandated last year.

“You have said that Department of Justice prosecutors will be prosecuted in the Trump administration,” Whitehouse noted. “What Department of Justice prosecutors will be prosecuted, and why?”

Bondi said her comments, made on TV, were regarding “bad" prosecutors” and investigators who do not follow the rule of law. As an example, she cited former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to doctoring an email to help secure a FISA warrant to wiretap a Trump campaign aide.

On Jan. 15, Wright, the CEO of Denver-based oil and gas company Liberty Energy Inc., said if he is confirmed as the next secretary of energy, he will work as an "unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy."

Wright was nominated to lead the Department of Energy by President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 17. In his commentary before the Senate committee, Wright said he shares Trump's passion for energy and will "work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda."

If confirmed by the Senate, Wright said his Department of Energy will focus on restoring American energy dominance, leading the world in technological innovation, and removing what he called barriers to progress.

To his first point, Wright said previous administrations "viewed energy as a liability instead of the immense national asset that it is."

Wright said that in order to compete on a global scale, the United States needs to expand its energy production capability. That includes commercial nuclear and liquified natural gas projects, he said, which will "cut the cost of energy for Americans."

As for advancing technological progress, Wright said additional financial resources must be poured into the Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories. This investment, he said, will "secure America's competitive advantage and its security."

Finally, Wright said the U.S. government must "remove barriers to progress."

“It’s facing a shortfall,” Fischer said. “Do you think that EVs should be paying into the Highway Trust Fund? Would you work to figure out a way to make this feasible?”

Duffy responded, “Absolutely.”

The prospective secretary of transportation said, “They should pay for [the] use of our roads; how to do that, I think, is a little more challenging, but I’d love to work with you in the committee to make that happen.”

Fischer then asked Duffy how he would work in the long term to sustain the Highway Trust Fund revenues so the Department of Transportation (DOT) can continue the nation’s growth of commerce and “continue to have a road system that works.”

Duffy said there are three immediate options: first, the DOT could increase the gas tax, which he doesn’t support; second, the government could increase tolling; third, it could use a mile-driven formula for those who aren’t paying gasoline taxes.

“My concern with that, though, is the privacy around the American citizens. So I think that's a conversation that will fall within the purview of this committee,” Duffy said.

“We could be far more efficient with our dollars. We could streamline the approach and get dollars into projects quicker.”

She told the senator that she has never had an "enemies list" as a courtroom prosecutor or as Florida’s attorney general.

He asked if she would hire anybody with an enemies list, to which she responded that he was talking about Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the FBI. She said she did not believe Patel had an enemies list and defended Patel’s record as a prosecutor and his work in the intelligence department and Department of Defense.

She said Patel is the right person for the job.

“I'm questioning you about whether you will enforce an enemy's list that he announced publicly on television,” the senator asked.

Bondi told the ranking Democratic member that the ultimate decision falls on the president, and that she had not seen the case files on violent January 6 rioters. But she said she condemns any use of violence against a law enforcement officer, and if asked, she would look at each file and advise on a case-by-case basis.

Both President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have said violent individuals should not be pardoned.

Rubio argued that this post-Cold War position has seen the United States take on trade, immigration, and national security policies that have harmed Americans. While the United States has prioritized supporting this global order above its own interests, Rubio said other nations have taken advantage of the moment to pursue their own interests.

“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits, and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities,” he said.

“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits, and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

“Instead, they have repressed and lied and cheated and hacked and stolen their way into global superpower status, and they have done so at our expense and at the expense of the people of their own country in our very own hemisphere.”

Rubio said “rogue nations” have used the post-war global order against the United States, which now has to confront “the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and of generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive and in this room today.”

Duffy referenced the thousands of Americans who die in roadway accidents every year and said the data “hits close to home” because his wife survived a head-on car crash that “profoundly reshaped her life.”

“If confirmed, I will prioritize road safety and assuring lives and families aren't forever changed by preventable accidents,” Duffy said. “In aviation, safety will remain its top priority. America needs more air traffic controllers.”

Duffy said the Transportation Department needs the “best and the brightest air traffic controllers” and that he would work with the Federal Aviation Administration to “restore global confidence in Boeing and to ensure that our skies are safe.”

“Transportation is an extraordinary new era,” Duffy said. “We're in a global race to out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world.

“President Biden is the president of the United States,” Bondi replied. “He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.”

Durbin then pressed Bondi on whether she had any doubts that Biden won the election.

“Senator, all I can tell you as a prosecutor is from my firsthand experience,” she said. “And I accept the results. I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States.

“But what I can tell you is what I saw firsthand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the [Trump] campaign.”

Bondi said she “saw many things” on the ground in Pennsylvania that caused her concern.

“No one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country,” the attorney said.

“We should all want our elections to be free and fair and the rules and the laws to be followed.”

“The Chinese Communist Party remains committed to dominating the world economically, militarily, and technologically,” he said during his opening statement during his hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Ratcliffe also mentioned Iranian terrorist proxies, the danger of the United States being drawn into war with Russia because of the Ukraine conflict, and regional destabilization by North Korea.

“President Trump made an excellent choice. We need a principled, action-oriented chief diplomat like Marco. I hope we can work across the aisle to confirm him on day one,” said Risch.

Shaheen said she believes Rubio has “the skills and [is] well qualified to serve as secretary of state."

He noted that Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who fled communism and highlighted the senator’s work in holding communist regimes such as China to account for their abuses.

“Pam was an incredible partner, working to keep Florida safe and help hold the laws of our state, ensuring crime is aggressively pursued by law enforcement and prosecutors,” Scott said.

“President Trump has made clear that one of his top priorities is to reverse the rising rates of crime, and specifically violent crime, that have plagued our communities over the past four years.”

The senator emphasized that, under Bondi, the Department of Justice “will actually fairly enforce the laws” of the nation and protect the rights of the American people.

He also praised her work to fight the opioid epidemic and human trafficking. He highlighted that during her tenure as state attorney general from 2010 to 2018, the state had a 26 percent drop in overall crime, a 19.6 percent drop in violent crime, and a 27.4 percent in property crime.

A copy of Bondi’s remarks, reviewed by The Epoch Times, indicates that she will emphasize “getting back to basics,” with a focus on prosecuting violent criminals, child predators, drug traffickers, terrorists, and illegal immigrants.

“The Department of Justice must also return to defending the foundational rights of all Americans, including free speech, free exercise of religion, and the right to bear arms. That is what the American people expect and deserve from the Department. If confirmed, I will do what it takes to make America safe again,” Bondi will say.

“Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio plans to tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to an opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.

“It is the commonsense realization that a foreign policy centered on our national interest is not some outdated relic.”

Rubio will cite Trump’s election win as a mandate that the American public wants a country that’s strong and engaged in world affairs “but guided by a clear objective, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home.”

Trump’s nominee also plans to declare that the global order established following World War II is obsolete and “is now a weapon being used against us.”

Bondi will be the first Trump nominee to testify on Wednesday, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Marco Rubio will be in one of multiple hearings at 10 a.m. The secretary of state nominee's hawkish stance on China and long tenure in Washington could make for a relatively smooth confirmation process. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin has already pledged to vote for the Senate Intelligence Committee veteran.

Also at 10 a.m., Trump’s selection for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, will appear for a nomination hearing. Like Rubio, he is one of the less controversial nominees. His concerns with Chinese espionage and his support for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are among the topics that could come up.

Senators may grill Chris Wright, Trump’s prospective energy secretary, over his background in fracking and criticism of certain climate policies. While his hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m., Democrats and an independent on the committee slated to hold the hearing have sought to postpone it.

Sean Duffy is slated for another 10 a.m. hearing. Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Transportation could be questioned about the state of American road infrastructure as well as labor tensions involving the country’s longshoremen, a group the president-elect has courted.

At 1 p.m., members of the Senate will hear from Russ Vought, who is set to reprise his first-term role at the helm of the crucial, but little-known, Office of Management and Budget. Vought’s support for impoundment, which would give Congress less budgetary power, and his work on Project 2025 will likely come up.

A hearing for Department of Homeland Security secretary hopeful Kristi Noem was bumped from Wednesday’s schedule and will now take place on Jan. 17.