1. Key Political Appointments at DOJ and SEC

Key DOJ officials have been confirmed to their posts: Pam Bondi as Attorney General on February 4, 2025; and Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General on March 5. The Department’s former Acting Deputy Attorney General, Emil Bove, has continued in the role of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. Chad Mizelle serves as AG Bondi’s chief of staff and Acting Associate Attorney General. Other key nominations at the Department and its key components include Solicitor General John Sauer and Kash Patel as the Senate-confirmed Director of the FBI.

President Trump has designated Mark Uyeda as Acting Chairman of the SEC, and has nominated Paul Atkins to chair the agency upon his Senate confirmation.

2. DOJ Absent at Industry Conferences

The DOJ did not attend the 40th ABA White Collar Crime Conference or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Anti-Bribery Convention; both events took place in March. This marks a significant departure for the DOJ, which traditionally dispatched representatives to attend these conferences. The Department’s absence this year is a part of the broader pattern of the DOJ reevaluating how it engages with the legal community, and comes amidst a larger shift as the DOJ has recently paused FCPA enforcement and shifted priorities in the white-collar space.

The DOJ has traditionally attended these conferences to announce new policies and discuss their priorities, but this year it has forgone that opportunity and have instead relied on press releases to announce their new initiatives.