WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, as U.S. attorney general, just hours after his other pick, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.

Bondi is a longtime ally of Trump and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial, when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power while trying to condition military aid of the US for Ukraine to have that country investigate the former vice president at the time. Joe Biden.

Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his New York criminal trial, which ended in May with a conviction on 34 counts. She served as president of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank founded by former Trump administration staffers.

“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore,” Trump said in a social media post. “Pam will refocus DOJ on its goal of fighting crime and making America safe again.”

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said Sunday on Fox Business that the transition team has reservations in mind for its controversial nominees if they are not confirmed. Bondi’s quick selection came about six hours after Gaetz withdrew.

Gaetz stepped aside amid ongoing fallout from a federal sex-trafficking investigation that has cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s federal law enforcement officer.

The announcement capped a tumultuous eight days in which Trump sought to use his landslide election victory to force Senate Republicans to accept challenger picks like Gaetz, who had been under investigation by the Justice Department before being tapped last week to drive. The decision could strengthen scrutiny of other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations he denies.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation has unfairly become a distraction for the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Gaetz, a Florida Republican who met a day earlier with senators in an effort to win their support, said in a statement.

“There is no time to waste with an unnecessarily prolonged argument in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from consideration for the position of attorney general. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1,” he added. A few hours later, Gaetz posted on social media that he was showing “Looking forward to continuing the fight to save our country” adding, “Just maybe from another post.”

Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well, but at the same time, he didn’t want to be a distraction to the Administration, for which he has a lot of respect. Matt has a great future and I look forward to watching all the great things he does!”

Last week, Trump appointed personal attorneys Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer to senior positions in the department. Another possible attorney general nominee, Matt Whitaker, was announced Wednesday as the US ambassador to NATO.

Bondi, too, is a longtime loyalist. She has been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump, as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted Trump in two federal cases. In a radio appearance, she criticized Smith and other prosecutors who have indicted Trump “horrible” the people he said were trying to make a name for themselves “let’s go after Donald Trump and weaponize our legal system.”

If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would instantly become one of the most watched members of Trump’s Cabinet, given the Republican’s threat to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries and Democratic concerns that he will try to bend the Justice Department to his will saddle. A recent Supreme Court opinion not only granted broad immunity to former presidents, but also asserted the president’s exclusive authority over the Justice Department’s investigative functions.

Bondi would inherit a Justice Department expected to pivot sharply on civil rights, corporate law enforcement and the prosecution of hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol – defendants Trump he pledged to pardon them.

Bondi is unlikely to be confirmed in time to overlap with Smith, who has brought two federal indictments against Trump that are expected to end before the incoming president takes office. Special advisers are expected to produce reports on their work that are historically made public, but it remains unclear when such a document might be released.

In 2013, while serving as Florida attorney general, Bondi publicly apologized for seeking a stay of execution of a man convicted of murder because it conflicted with a campaign fundraiser.

Bondi said he was wrong and sorry for asking the government since then. Rick Scott delayed the execution of Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks.

Before running for state attorney general in 2010, Bondi worked for the Hillsborough County state’s attorney.