Donald Trump has been accused of running a “misogynistic administration” after making Pam Bondi the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.

The US president dismissed the attorney general on Thursday amid mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The move came less than a month after Trump ousted Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, following criticism of her management of the department and immigration enforcement.

Bondi and Noem are the only two cabinet members to lose their jobs so far in Trump’s second term despite male officials such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr stumbling from controversy to controversy.

And both have been replaced by men, at least for now: Senator Markwayne Mullin took over at homeland security while Todd Blanche was appointed interim attorney general in what was already the least diverse US cabinet this century.

Democrats cried foul on Thursday. “I see a theme,” Jasmine Crockett, a congresswoman from Texas, posted on social media. “He will throw the incompetent women under the bus a lot faster than the incompetent men.”

Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari of Arizona drew a contrast with Hegseth, who was found by a Pentagon watchdog to have put US service members at risk when he used the Signal messaging app, and FBI director Kash Patel, whose string of errors include prematurely announcing the arrest of the wrong suspect in the Charlie Kirk murder investigation.

Ansari wrote on X: “Noem and Bondi were both awful and committed egregious, impeachable offenses. But isn’t it… interesting… that it’s just the women getting fired? Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth each have a laundry list of scandals under their belts and should be fired as well. Hmmmm.”

Former Republican officials also weighed in. Bill Kristol, who served in the Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush administrations, posted: “Bondi was awful, but no worse than Patel. Noem was terrible, but no worse than Hegseth. Funny that it’s only the women who get fired.”

After the chaotic revolving door of Trump’s first administration, his second began on more stable footing under Susie Wiles, the first female White House chief of staff, and has been notable for ostentatious pledges of loyalty to the president. There was one hiccup when Mike Waltz, who had mistakenly added a journalist to a secure Signal chat discussing military strikes, lost his job as national security adviser – only to receive the consolation prize of US ambassador to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Democratic calls for the resignation of commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who was caught in a lie about his ties to Epstein after the files revealed they were still in contact in 2018, fell on deaf ears. But now that Trump has begun to wield the axe in earnest, critics are unsurprised that women are the first to fall.

Tara Setmayer, cofounder of the Seneca Project, a women-led political action committee, said: “Given Donald Trump’s history with women, why is anyone surprised that he holds them to a different standard? Many people are easily discarded by Donald Trump but his history with the way he treats women as objects, as things that he can easily dispense with when he’s done with them, is consistent with how he treats the women who serve him in his cabinet.”

More than 25 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct and a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E Jean Carroll. Since returning to power he has issued executive orders to curb diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government. In his first 300 days just 16% of the individuals confirmed by the Senate to serve in his administration were women, according to the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington.

Setmayer, a former Republican communications director, commented: “Donald Trump made it very clear that he doesn’t feel as though diversity is a strength of this country or of our democracy. For many authoritarians, it’s consistent that women in positions of power, women with autonomy and freedoms and equality, are a threat to authoritarian states.

“Donald Trump is a misogynist and this is a misogynistic administration and they’re not shy about that.”

The Guardian reported on Thursday that another woman, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, could be next. Trump privately asked cabinet members about replacing her due to frustration over her congressional testimony on the Iran war.

Journalist Tara Palmeri tweeted: “Pam Bondi Fired, Kristi Noem Fired, Tulsi Gabbard Next? Trump is playing whack-a-mole with the women of his cabinet.”

Olivia Julianna, a political activist, added: “Trump fired Kristi Noem. Trump fired Pam Bondi. Trump will fire Tulsi Gabbard Next. Plenty of men in the Trump administration who have screwed up, but get a pass. Let this serve as a reminder to the Maga women – to them, you are always replaceable.”