So, the Attorney General's office has a new temporary occupant. President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi on Thursday and promptly slid Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche into the big chair on an acting basis. The permanent job, however, is still up for grabs. And while the White House hasn't tipped its hand, there's a whole market of people willing to put real money on their guesses.
It turns out you can bet on almost anything these days, including presidential cabinet appointments. On Polymarket, a prediction platform built on the Polygon (POL) blockchain where users wager with the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, there's an active contract asking: "Who will Trump announce as next Attorney General?" So far, over $220,000 has been piled into this political guessing game.
The Odds-On Favorite (For Now)
And who are the smart money—or at least the willing money—backing? The current front-runner isn't the guy already sitting in the office. It's Lee Zeldin, the current administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Bettors have assigned him a hefty 47% probability of getting the nod.
That leaves Todd Blanche, the newly minted acting Attorney General, in second place. The market gives him about a 23% shot at the permanent role. Interestingly, that's down 17 percentage points, suggesting that traders see the "acting" title as just that—temporary.
Why Bondi Got the Boot
As for why there's a vacancy to bet on in the first place, the writing has been on the wall for Bondi for a while. Her handling of the files related to the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is the most cited reason for her exit. She's scheduled to be deposed before the House Oversight Committee on the matter later this month. Back in September, Trump publicly urged her to move faster on pursuing charges against certain political figures, voicing clear frustration with the pace of Justice Department investigations. That pressure seems to have culminated in Thursday's decision.
The Market Saw It Coming
Here's the fun part for fans of prediction markets: this isn't the first time they've eyed Bondi's chair. Back in March, after Kristi Noem was removed as Homeland Security Secretary, Polymarket launched a contract betting on the "next person to exit the White House." Bondi quickly became the favorite in that market, too, with traders assigning a 50% probability to her departure. Sometimes, the crowd has a knack for sensing which way the political winds are blowing.
