Todd Blanche Confirmed as Attorney General in Narrow Senate Vote
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a 50-49 vote early Saturday morning, installing President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer as the nation’s top law enforcement official. The vote, which took place at approximately 4:31 a.m. ET just before the chamber began a five-week summer recess, came after a bruising confirmation fight that exposed deep divisions within both parties over the direction of the Justice Department.
Blanche, who had been serving as acting attorney general since April, becomes the second confirmed attorney general since Trump returned to the White House in 2025. He is the 88th person to hold the office, according to AP News.
A Contentious Confirmation Fight
The vote fell largely along party lines, with all Democrats opposing Blanche’s nomination. Two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — also voted against him, citing concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did not vote, as he has been absent from the Senate since a June fall.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana provided the decisive vote, announcing his support on the Senate floor Friday morning. “Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
Cassidy, who lost his Republican primary in May to a Trump-backed challenger, acknowledged the political cost of his decision. “I will be criticized for this vote. What’s new?” he said. “But the people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.”
Murkowski, who announced her opposition Friday, said the country needs an attorney general “who will check the worst impulses of this administration.” She also raised concerns about the nearly $2 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” warning that it could be revived once the Senate lost its leverage over the nomination. Collins said that while she believes Blanche is “a capable lawyer,” the Department of Justice “has become increasingly political,” and that Blanche “has taken several actions that have further eroded the department’s independence.”
The Anti-Weaponization Fund Controversy
The confirmation fight was dominated by controversy over a settlement Blanche brokered between the DOJ and the IRS in May, resolving Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns. The deal created a nearly $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund to compensate people who alleged they were unfairly targeted by the federal government — a provision critics said could apply to those who faced criminal liability for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The settlement also provided sweeping immunity from tax audits for Trump, his family members, and his businesses. The provisions sparked bipartisan backlash and threatened to derail Blanche’s nomination entirely.
Under pressure from Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Blanche formally rescinded the fund in writing on Aug. 2, saying the order establishing it “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.” He also clarified that the tax immunity applies only retroactively and is limited to Trump, his two oldest sons, and the Trump Organization, as NPR reported.
Democrats argued the rescission was unenforceable because it was not signed by all parties to the settlement, including Trump himself. “The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement, and the cop-beaters fund can easily be revived … 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was blunt in his criticism. “If you want to wipe out corruption, you can’t have the president’s personal attorney as the attorney general,” he said. “Todd Blanche has no intention of stopping Trump’s corruption. He advanced his career enabling it.”
From Trump’s Defense Lawyer to DOJ Leadership
Blanche’s path to the Justice Department’s top job was unusual. A former federal prosecutor in New York, he left a lucrative partnership at a Wall Street law firm in 2023 to become one of Trump’s personal attorneys, helping lead the defense in the New York hush money trial where Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts. He also defended Trump against federal criminal charges in the classified documents and election subversion cases, both of which ended when Trump was elected for a second term.
After Trump returned to the White House, Blanche was confirmed as deputy attorney general in March 2025 with no Republicans voting against him. He was elevated to acting attorney general in April 2026 after Trump fired Pam Bondi, as The Guardian reported.
During his tenure, the department has pursued Trump’s campaign of retribution against perceived enemies. It has indicted former FBI Director James Comey twice, charged the Southern Poverty Law Center over payments to confidential informants, and attempted to bring criminal charges against two Democratic senators. The department has also lost thousands of employees through firings, resignations, or voluntary departures.
Blanche also oversaw the release of more than 2 million files from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a rollout that drew criticism for including unredacted names and personal information of survivors. He met with Epstein survivors last month after initially refusing to do so, but some described the meeting as a “check-the-box exercise,” according to CBS News.
What the Confirmation Means
Blanche’s confirmation gives Trump a Senate-confirmed loyalist atop the Justice Department, freeing him to pursue the administration’s agenda more aggressively. Supporters argue his experience as a federal prosecutor and the trust he earned from Trump in the courtroom make him better equipped than Bondi to explain the legal constraints of the president’s demands.
“President Trump needs someone in this role, as well with a strong legal mind, but who also is close enough to him to give him confidential legal advice to tell him hard truths,” Cornyn said before the vote. “I would advise Mr. Blanche not to be afraid to capitalize on that earned trust when necessary for the good of the country.”
More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees signed a letter opposing Blanche’s nomination, arguing that his top guiding principle is “fealty to the President, not the Constitution,” as Yahoo News reported.
Blanche said on social media after the vote that he was “deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “the American people will be well served by his unwavering commitment to law and order.”
Looking Ahead
Blanche now leads the Justice Department with Senate backing, and he begins with Congress out of town — senators began their five-week recess within hours of the vote, pushing any oversight hearings to September. Democrats are watching whether the anti-weaponization fund could be revived, while the department faces ongoing legal challenges over its handling of high-profile cases.
The confirmation marks a significant milestone in Trump’s effort to reshape the federal government’s law enforcement apparatus. Whether Blanche can navigate the tension between presidential loyalty and institutional independence — and whether the courts and the department’s own workforce will accept his leadership — remains to be seen, as Roll Call noted. The narrow margin of his confirmation, and the concerns raised by senators in both parties, suggest the scrutiny of his tenure will be intense.