WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi has confirmed she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after President Donald Trump removed her from the Justice Department in early April, disclosing that she has already undergone surgery and is now recovering, while also set to return to the administration in a senior advisory capacity.
Bondi confirmed the diagnosis directly to CNN on Tuesday, saying she is still recovering but doing well. The disclosure came hours after Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and a senior administration communications official, broke the news publicly in a post on X that was subsequently reposted by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Miller wrote that Bondi had been quietly fighting cancer for several weeks and praised her as having “a heart of gold.” The post signaled what had been kept tightly within Trump’s inner circle since Bondi’s abrupt departure from the nation’s top law enforcement post nearly two months ago.
Axios first reported both the cancer diagnosis and Bondi’s planned return to the administration, citing a source familiar with the matter. According to the outlet, Bondi received the diagnosis shortly after leaving the Justice Department, underwent treatment, and has been recuperating since. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump fired Bondi on April 2, replacing her with former Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general. Her dismissal came amid sustained criticism of her handling of the Epstein Files, a sweeping document release ordered under the Epstein Files Transparency Act that triggered congressional investigations and bipartisan demands for accountability. Bondi had defied a congressional subpoena to testify before the House Oversight Committee, setting up a confrontation that had not been resolved at the time of her ouster.
Now that confrontation is set to resume. Bondi is scheduled to testify on Friday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where lawmakers are expected to press her on the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein Files. Her appearance will be among her first significant public engagements since the cancer diagnosis became known.
In parallel with the health disclosure, the administration announced that Bondi will join the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a White House panel created via a March executive order that has become central to the administration’s drive to dominate artificial intelligence policy and counter China’s technological ambitions. The panel is chaired by former White House AI adviser David Sacks and science adviser Michael Kratsios and includes some of the most powerful figures in global technology, among them Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.
According to Axios, Bondi will help coordinate between administration officials and the technology executives on the panel, while also taking on a newly created advisory role tied to national infrastructure policy. Vice President JD Vance welcomed the appointment in a statement to CNN, describing Bondi as an enormously valuable asset and expressing enthusiasm that she would remain engaged on issues he described as among the most consequential the administration faces.
Bondi’s return draws renewed attention to a parallel health battle inside Trump’s orbit. In March, Trump publicly revealed that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had been diagnosed with what he described as early-stage breast cancer, saying at the time that she would remain in her position throughout treatment. Wiles, widely credited as one of the architects of Trump’s 2024 campaign victory, has continued in her role. The close personal relationship between Bondi and Wiles had been well known within administration circles, and the disclosure of Bondi’s cancer is expected to further underscore that dynamic.
Thyroid cancer is among the most common endocrine malignancies and one of the most treatable when caught early. Surgery, which Bondi says she has already undergone, is typically the primary treatment for most thyroid cancers, often followed by radioactive iodine therapy depending on the type and stage. Survival rates for differentiated thyroid cancers, which account for the vast majority of cases, are high when treated promptly, as reported.
Bondi, 60, served as the 87th United States attorney general from February 2025 to April 2026, having previously served as Florida’s attorney general for two terms between 2011 and 2019. Her tenure at the Justice Department was defined largely by the Epstein Files controversy and growing tension with Congress over the DOJ’s transparency, culminating in her dismissal. With her cancer now publicly disclosed and her return to a White House advisory role confirmed, she re-enters the political arena at a moment when both those threads remain unresolved.
The ongoing political fallout at the Justice Department under acting attorney general Blanche, including a highly contested $1.8 billion compensation fund tied to Trump allies and the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, means Bondi’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Friday will be closely watched. Her new advisory role, and the administration’s decision to publicly embrace her return following her cancer battle, signals that Trump views her departure not as a rupture but as a transition he intends to build on.
