The Daily Fuckup

Pam Bondi gave the Senate Judiciary Committee a careful answer on one of the biggest immigration fights heading into the Trump administration: birthright citizenship.

At her January 15, 2025 confirmation hearing, Sen. Alex Padilla asked Bondi whether she believed the Fourteenth Amendment protected birthright citizenship and whether she would defend it. Bondi said she would “study birthright citizenship” and talk further with him. Padilla pressed back that a nominee for attorney general ought to know the answer already. The exchange did not produce a policy announcement, but it did show Bondi declining to commit to a direct defense on the spot.

Her January 16, 2025 written responses added more detail, but not a sharper answer. Bondi wrote that the Fourteenth Amendment “defines the category of persons who are entitled to birthright citizenship” and said that if she were confirmed and asked for an opinion on the amendment’s meaning, she would examine the law and facts, consult Justice Department officials, and advise the president.

Bondi also said the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark held that Wong Kim Ark was a U.S. citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment, and she wrote that the case has not been overturned. In a later question, she reiterated that she would consider the birthright citizenship issue as necessary and appropriate and in consultation with Justice Department officials.

The record here is narrower than the rhetoric around it. Bondi did not announce a change in policy or an immediate plan to move against birthright citizenship. What she did do was avoid a flat yes-or-no defense during her hearing, then respond in writing with language that left the matter open for review if she ever had to give an opinion as attorney general.