US President Donald Trump on Thursday removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post amid mounting frustration with her performance, including the handling of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein related files.

Bondi, who was among the loyalists in the Trump administration and changed the Justice Department’s culture of independence from White House, oversaw the large scale firings of employees but the US president reportedly grew frustrated with her for not moving swiftly to prosecute critics, who Trump wanted to face criminal charges.

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Confirming the development, Trump in a Truth Social post praised Bondi as a “great American patriot and a loyal friend” and said ​she will move to a job in the private sector. The US president added that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, will lead ​the Justice Department and be the acting Attorney General.

“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900. We love Pam,” Trump wrote.

The development comes after Bondi became the target of several Conservatives over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation. The top US law enforcement official was accused of covering up or mismanaging the release of records in Justice Department’s investigation into deceased sex offender Epstein, Reuters reported.

Bondi, however, defended the release of Epstein files and had said the Trump administration had been more transparent on the issue than previous ​presidents.

Criticising Attorney General Bondi, Maryland’s Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin had said, “You’ve turned the People’s Department of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge.”

Bondi is the second Trump administration loyalist to have been fired in a month. The US president removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 5 following criticism of her management of the agency and Trump’s immigration agenda.