It has been two months since Attorney General Pam Bondi took the reins at the United States Department of Justice and through memos, statements, and significant decisions by her office and the White House, the priorities of the DOJ in 2025 are starting to come into focus. Combating drug cartels and enforcing immigration laws are at the top of the list for Bondi, the former Florida prosecutor who now leads the world’s largest law firm.

On her very first day, Bondi directed the nation’s United States Attorneys to pursue the most serious criminal immigration-related cases, as well as the investigation of state and local officials who resist federal immigration enforcement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted workplace raids, leading to more than 32,000 arrests in the first 60 days since President Trump returned to office. Human trafficking and illegal smuggling are also a focus of Bondi, who has created “Joint Task Force Alpha” to enhance efforts to stop these crimes.

To combat drug trafficking both here and abroad, and to achieve “the total elimination of Cartels and transnational criminal organizations,” Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in their charging of capital crimes, terrorism offenses, racketeering, economic crimes, and machinegun offenses when pursuing Cartel leaders.

On the other hand, when dealing with lower-tier drug targets without immigration status, the Attorney General believes that removing those individuals from the United States would be a more efficient use of resources.

Protecting law enforcement is another priority, with DOJ components being directed to investigate violence against and obstruction of law enforcement with great vigor. The death penalty will be pursued against those who commit capital crimes against the police, and whenever law enforcement is unfairly criticized, Bondi has ordered the “backing and promoting of the efforts of law enforcement.”

Pursuit of the death penalty has been revived, and not just against those who harm law enforcement agents but in all capital cases. In addition, the moratorium on federal executions has been lifted and prior decisions not to seek the death penalty will be reviewed and potentially reversed.

Bondi has directed that the ATF focus less on alcohol and tobacco and more on firearms and explosives. She recently announced the formation of the Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force, which will develop strategies to advance and protect compliance with the Second Amendment.

Individuals and corporations accused of fraud, corruption, and other types of white-collar misconduct have benefited from the policies of the new administration. More than a hundred corporate enforcement actions have been halted or dropped since the beginning of the year.

The enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — an anti-bribery statute — has been paused, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has effectively been shut down, and a number of politicians and businessmen have been granted substantial relief, up to and including full pardons.

The Foreign Influence Task Force — a unit created in 2017 to identify foreign governments targeting Americans with propaganda — was ordered disbanded by Bondi. She also scaled back the enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register when lobbying on behalf of a foreign nation. FARA had been utilized recently to prosecute several members of Congress, including former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison.

The actions of the Biden administration to advance environmental justice have been rescinded by Bondi, and she has said that the DOJ will instead “evenhandedly enforce all federal civil and criminal laws, including environmental laws.”

Attorney General Bondi has a bold agenda and a tremendous team of agents and prosecutors to help accomplish her goals.

The DOJ has a large number of vacancies but hopefully it will get the funding it needs from Congress and relief from the federal hiring freeze so that Bondi has the resources necessary to effectively protect the country from threats, both foreign and domestic.

William Ihlenfeld is the former two-time United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia. He is now a partner with the law firm Flannery Georgalis.