Attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is winning praise from conservatives for her combative confirmation hearing today, where she sparred with Democrats and defended her record. Ms. Bondi was pressed by Democrats on birthright citizenship and her efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Ms. Bondi got into it with a number of the panel’s more liberal members, including California’s lawmakers, Senator Padilla and Senator Schiff. 

Mr. Padilla pressed Ms. Bondi on the issue of birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment, which led the former Florida attorney general to get into a yelling match with the senator. President Trump has floated the idea of getting rid of birthright citizenship altogether, which most Constitutional scholars consider a bedrock protection afforded by the 14th Amendment. 

“I will study birthright citizenship. I would love to meet with you,” Ms. Bondi responded, prompting Mr. Padilla to fire back: “Ma’am, you’re asking us to consider you to serve as the attorney general of the United States and you still need to study the 14th Amendment of the Constitution? That is not helping me have more confidence in your ability to do this job.”

Ms. Bondi then came back at the California senator: “I’m not gonna be bullied by you, Senator Padilla,” she said. When Mr. Padilla asked the nominee to describe the Citizenship Clause of the amendment, Ms. Bondi said, “I’m here to answer your questions. I’m not here to do your homework and study for you.”

When it was Mr. Schiff’s turn to ask questions, he demanded to know if Ms. Bondi would ever investigate Special Counsel Jack Smith, or other officials who the president-elect has criticized in the past. Ms. Bondi said she had not considered such a move. 

“What I’m hearing on the news is horrible. Do I know if he committed a crime? I have not looked at it,” Ms. Bondi responded. “No one has asked me to investigate Liz Cheney,” she said in response to another question.

“You know what we should be worried about? The crime rate in California right now is through the roof! You robberies are 87 percent higher than the national average,” she said, interrupting Mr. Schiff. “That’s what I want to be focused on, senator, if I’m confirmed as the attorney general.”

A senior member of the panel, Senator Whitehouse, pressed Ms. Bondi on comments she had made in the past about prosecuting federal prosecutors, though she shot back to say that she would only ever prosecute someone if they had done something “bad.”

She was also asked about an “enemies list” that had previously been published by Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel. “There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice,” Ms. Bondi responded, adding that Mr. Patel would be the “right” person to lead the agency. 

In a moment that left some conservatives laughing, Senator Hirono asked an unusual question of Ms. Bondi. 

“Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?” Ms. Hirono asked. 

“No, senator,” Ms. Bondi responded with a straight face.