The House Oversight Committee confirmed to The Epoch Times on Wednesday that the Justice Department had said Bondi would no longer appear for a congressional deposition on April 14 "since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General."

"The Committee will contact Pam Bondi's personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition," the committee said in a statement.

Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said in a statement that if Bondi "does not come in to testify, we will begin contempt charges in Congress."

"Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not," Garcia said.

Committee Chair James Comer (R-K.Y.) issued a subpoena to Bondi on March 17 to order her testimony regarding the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files.

Democrats and several Republicans have accused her of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act through the Justice Department's piecemeal release of documents, and for redacting alleged co-conspirator names while leaving some victim names un-redacted.

Enacted late last year with bipartisan support, the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates that the Justice Department publicly release all non-classified records related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) moved in early March to subpoena Bondi to testify before Congress. Four other Republicans—Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.)—joined Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to support Mace's motion.

Bondi has repeatedly defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files and denied Democrats' allegations that she was obstructing congressional oversight.

The Justice Department called the subpoena "completely unnecessary" at the time.

On Wednesday, Mace reacted to the news that Bondi will no longer appear at next week's deposition and suggested the Oversight Committee may still subpoena her, now that the former attorney general is a private citizen.

"Pam Bondi cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General. Our motion to subpoena Pam Bondi, which was passed by the Oversight Committee, was for Bondi by name, not by title," Mace wrote on social media.