Within hours of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s firing Thursday, chatter turned to Sen. Mike Lee as a possible replacement—even as a report this week branded him the Senate GOP caucus’s “most despised” member for his SAVE Act crusade.
7 days - Deadline for Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress to submit signatures to qualify for the primary ballot (4/10/2026)
8 days - Utah Forward Party nominating convention (4/11/2026)
22 days - Utah State Republican and Democratic State Party nominating conventions (4/25/2026)
81 days - Utah's 2026 primary election (6/23/2026)
214 days - 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026)
949 days - 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028)
Lee has been in the mix before. After Trump won a second term in 2024, Trump’s team reached out to Lee about taking a role in the administration. His name was floated as a possible nominee for the top spot at the Department of Justice.
Lee threw cold water on the idea Thursday evening. Responding to a post noting his name was being floated as a way to move him out of the Senate, Lee wrote on X/Twitter, “I’m not going anywhere.”
I’m not going anywhere https://t.co/Nr45lAyPSK— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 3, 2026
That speculation follows a Puck report labeling Lee “the most despised” Republican senator over his relentless push to pass his voter-ID bill known as the SAVE America Act. The bill lacks the votes to clear the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster. Colleagues say Lee has aggravated them by calling them out online and turning the fight into a fundraising tool.
For all of Lee’s public saber-rattling, though, he has made little effort to build internal consensus. He has not pressed the case for the SAVE Act or a talking filibuster during the multiple closed-door lunches that Senate Republicans hold each week, according to a Republican source. On the contrary, when Republicans have raised questions in these private settings, Thune has yielded to Lee—but Lee hasn’t engaged. Nor has he attempted to manage what would be a complicated Senate floor process—which would be a sign that he was actually serious about the issue—sources say, reinforcing the view among colleagues that he is cynically engaged in an attention-seeking, money-driven effort to raise his profile.
One Trump ally speculated to me that Lee may believe his posture will help him get nominated for the next open Supreme Court seat. That would be a unanimous confirmation, one G.O.P. Senate aide joked, because people want him out of the Senate.
If Trump were to tap Lee for an administration post or a seat on the Supreme Court, it would mostly be up to the Utah Legislature to pick his replacement. Lawmakers would send the governor three names to fill the vacancy, and the governor would pick the appointee.