“Pam Bondi didn’t show up for her hearing today, despite our subpoena. We’re going to begin contempt proceedings.

“It’s time to hold these people accountable to the laws we passed in Congress,” Garcia, the ranking member of the House oversight and government reform committee, said on the social media platform X.

His remarks came after Bondi skipped appearing before the House oversight committee on Tuesday to testify under oath about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has been pressing Bondi to comply with a congressional subpoena after her removal as attorney general, which her representatives have cited as grounds for declining a scheduled deposition.

Committee members say she was subpoenaed by name, not by title, so she is still obligated to appear.

Earlier this month, president Donald Trump announced the removal of Bondi, who had attracted criticism over a number of issues, including the justice department’s handling of the Epstein files and the department’s alleged weaponisation to focus on bringing down Trump’s perceived enemies.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida to procuring a minor for prostitution, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal”.

The case has remained a politically charged issue in the US, with lawmakers and victims’ advocates from across the spectrum demanding greater transparency about his network of associates and any individuals who may have facilitated his crimes.