The head of the DOJ is the Attorney General of the United States, a Cabinet-level officer who serves as the federal government’s chief law enforcement officer and its top legal advisor. As of 2026, that person is Pamela Bondi, confirmed by the Senate on February 4, 2025, by a vote of 54–46.1United States Senate. Roll Call Vote 119th Congress – 1st Session The Attorney General is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and by statute “is the head of the Department of Justice.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 503 – Attorney General The position sits seventh in the presidential line of succession.3USAGov. Order of Presidential Succession The salary in 2026 is $253,100, set at Executive Level I.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table No. 2026-EX
What the Attorney General Does
The job breaks down into a handful of core functions, each backed by statute or long-standing practice.
Advising the President on the Law
Under 28 U.S.C. § 511, the Attorney General “shall give his advice and opinion on questions of law when required by the President.”5United States Code. 28 USC 511 – Attorney General to Advise the President Most of this work runs through the Office of Legal Counsel, which drafts formal opinions on how the Constitution and federal statutes apply to executive branch actions. OLC opinions are treated as binding on executive agencies, and the Attorney General has final say over their conclusions.6Duke Law Scholarship Repository. Principles to Guide the Office of Legal Counsel
Setting Federal Enforcement Priorities
The Attorney General decides how the Department’s resources are deployed. Those choices shape which crimes get the most investigative attention and which civil cases the United States pursues. The AG also has authority to approve or decline sensitive prosecutions involving high-ranking officials or national security matters, and oversees all civil litigation in which the United States is a party.
Civil rights and antitrust enforcement fall inside this mandate. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division enforces protections against discrimination in voting, education, employment, and housing under laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.7U.S. Department of Justice. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Antitrust Division investigates monopolistic practices under the Sherman Antitrust Act.8Legal Information Institute. Sherman Antitrust Act
Overseeing U.S. Attorneys
The AG issues policy guidance to the 93 U.S. Attorneys who prosecute federal cases across the country’s 94 judicial districts.9Legal Information Institute. United States Attorney Each U.S. Attorney is separately appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and each retains significant operational independence at the district level.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 541 – United States Attorneys
Directing the Solicitor General’s Office
The Solicitor General represents the United States before the Supreme Court and controls which cases the federal government appeals.11U.S. Department of Justice. The Solicitor General in Historical Context The Supreme Court has held that authority over litigation brought in the name of the United States belongs to the Attorney General or to the Solicitor General as the AG’s statutory delegate. No other federal agency can take a conflicting position before the Court without going through this office.
What the DOJ Includes
The Attorney General sits atop a large network of federal law enforcement agencies and specialized legal divisions. The major operational agencies are:
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which handles terrorism, counterintelligence, cybercrime, public corruption, organized crime, and civil rights violations.12Federal Bureau of Investigation. What Are the Primary Investigative Functions of the FBI?
- The Drug Enforcement Administration, which enforces controlled substances laws and targets trafficking organizations.13United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Mission
- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, focused on violent crime tied to illegal firearms, explosives, and arson.14U.S. Department of Justice. ATF About
- The U.S. Marshals Service, which provides federal court security, apprehends fugitives, and runs the federal Witness Protection Program.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 566 – Powers and Duties
- The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages all federal penal and correctional institutions.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 4042 – Duties of Bureau of Prisons
- INTERPOL–Washington, the communications link between U.S. law enforcement and foreign police agencies on matters like counterterrorism, drug crimes, and human trafficking.17United States Government Manual. International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) – Washington
Alongside these agencies, several litigating divisions handle specialized caseloads: the Criminal Division for federal criminal laws not assigned elsewhere, the National Security Division for counterterrorism and foreign intelligence surveillance, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division for pollution, public lands, wildlife, and Tribal rights cases.18United States Department of Justice. Organization, Mission and Functions Manual – Environment and Natural Resources Division
How Someone Becomes Attorney General
The President nominates a candidate, typically a former prosecutor, judge, or senior government lawyer, and submits the name to the Senate. The nominee files a Public Financial Disclosure report and undergoes an ethics review under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.19whitehouse.gov. OGE Form 278
The Senate Judiciary Committee then conducts background checks, reviews the nominee’s legal record, holds public hearings, and votes on whether to recommend the nominee to the full Senate. Confirmation requires a simple majority of senators present. Senators tend to focus heavily on the nominee’s stated commitment to institutional independence and willingness to investigate the executive branch without political interference. Bondi’s 54–46 confirmation vote is a recent example of how closely divided these decisions can be.
Who Fills In When the Job Is Vacant
Federal law provides a clear order of succession. Under 28 U.S.C. § 508, the Deputy Attorney General steps in first when the AG is absent, disabled, or the office is vacant. If the Deputy is also unavailable, the Associate Attorney General takes over. The Attorney General can further designate the Solicitor General and Assistant Attorneys General as backup successors.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 508 – Vacancies
The Deputy Attorney General may exercise nearly all of the AG’s power and authority, except duties the law requires the AG to perform personally.21eCFR. Part 0 – Organization of the Department of Justice The Deputy supervises DOJ components day-to-day, coordinates with the White House, and manages the Department’s response to civil disturbances and terrorism. As of 2026, the Deputy Attorney General is Todd Blanche. Executive Order 14136, signed in January 2025, designates specific U.S. Attorneys to serve as acting AG if all three top positions are vacant at once.
Independence From the White House
The Attorney General is a political appointee expected to make investigative decisions on the facts and the law alone. That tension is the defining feature of the office.
Formal policies restrict communications between White House staff and DOJ personnel about pending investigations. Outside the national security context, only the President, Vice President, the Counsel to the President, or a Deputy Counsel may initiate contact with the DOJ about a specific criminal or civil case, and all initial DOJ communications to the White House flow through the Counsel’s Office.22THE WHITE HOUSE. White House Policy for Contacts with Agencies and Departments These protocols are policy-based, not statutory, so each administration can modify them.
When an investigation would create a conflict of interest for the Department, the Attorney General can appoint a Special Counsel.23eCFR. 28 CFR 600.1 – Grounds for Appointing a Special Counsel A Special Counsel operates with the full authority of a U.S. Attorney but is not subject to day-to-day supervision.24eCFR. Part 600 – General Powers of Special Counsel The AG can review actions the Department considers “so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued,” and only the AG can remove a Special Counsel, and only for misconduct, dereliction of duty, conflict of interest, or other good cause.
Two internal offices provide accountability inside the Department. The Office of the Inspector General is a statutorily independent entity that investigates fraud, abuse, and misconduct by DOJ employees, contractors, and grantees.25U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. About the Office The Office of Professional Responsibility focuses on misconduct by Department attorneys tied to their investigative, litigation, or legal advisory work, and coordinates with state bar authorities when professional sanctions may apply.26eCFR. Subpart G-2 – Office of Professional Responsibility
Removal
The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President and can be removed at any time without cause. No statute requires the President to show good cause before firing the AG, unlike the protections that apply to a Special Counsel. The practical check is political rather than legal: removing an AG to derail an investigation carries significant reputational and potentially legal risk. That dynamic has played out repeatedly in American history, most notably during the Watergate-era “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.