Todd Blanche was officially sworn in Monday as attorney general following his confirmation by the Senate in a 50-49 vote on Saturday morning. According to reports from Business Standard, another former Trump attorney - Emil Bove, now a federal appeals court judge - administered the oath of office to Blanche at the White House. The ceremony marks the end of a bruising confirmation fight that exposed bipartisan concerns about the Justice Department's direction under President Trump. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor in New York, is officially taking command of a Justice Department he has been leading in an acting capacity since Pam Bondi's firing in April. With the confirmation battle behind him, Blanche now faces the challenge of navigating demands from a president who has made no secret of his desire to use the law enforcement agency to target political foes.
The path to confirmation was unusually rocky due to Republican concerns about a controversial settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. As reported by Reuters, Blanche provided written assurances on August 2 that the department would abandon Trump's proposed $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, saying the order establishing the fund "is rescinded and shall have no force or effect." Two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — had demanded written assurances after facing legal challenges to the fund, which was meant to compensate people who alleged the federal government had been weaponized against them. In a second written statement on August 2, the Justice Department clarified that tax audit protections for Trump, his family and the Trump Organization only apply retroactively and are limited to those specific individuals instead of including a potentially larger group of "affiliated individuals" and companies. The fund, created as part of a settlement between Trump and the IRS over the president's leaked tax returns, was meant to compensate people who alleged the federal government had been weaponized against them, with concerns that it could have been used to give money to Trump allies who claimed they were victims of government overreach, including people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. A legal loophole could still revive the fund, despite Blanche's assurances.
Sen Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said confirming Blanche would be a "serious mistake" and begged his colleagues not to be on the "wrong side" of history. According to Reuters, Durbin argued that if there is ever a moment in history when the country needs an Attorney General above reproach, it's right now. Murkowski announced early Friday that she would join Collins in opposing Blanche's nomination, saying the country needs an attorney general "who will check the worst impulses of this administration." Democrats and some Republicans, including Sen. Tillis, had also been vocal in criticizing Blanche's handling of the scandal around sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanding that Blanche meet with Epstein survivors. Blanche did so for the first time last month, but survivors after the meeting urged senators to block his nomination, with one survivor saying she "found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors." Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., expressed particular concern about Blanche's personal history with Trump, stating ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote: "The problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can't do it. He will never do what's best for the American people. He will only do what's best for Donald Trump, and you cannot leave someone like that as the nation's No. 1 law enforcement official." Collins, who is running for re-election in Maine, said earlier this week: "While I believe Mr Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political. Mr Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the department's independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation."
A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche rose to public prominence as a lead attorney on Trump's defense team, including during the Republican's hush money trial in New York. As reported by Reuters, he also defended Trump against criminal charges in two federal cases brought by the Biden administration's Department of Justice. Blanche entered the president's orbit when he left his law firm in 2023 to represent Trump against multiple criminal cases, including two brought by the Justice Department under Democratic President Joe Biden. Blanche entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi, overseeing the agency's day-to-day operations and serving as the public face for high-profile matters. Sen Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, gave a full-throated endorsement of Blanche ahead of voting, saying he's led the Justice Department with distinction. Sen Cornyn praised Blanche's willingness to work with him and Tillis, saying the DOJ needs a permanent head and that "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." Cassidy, who lost his renomination bid to a Trump-backed challenger, acknowledged Blanche's imperfections, saying "Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this," but emphasized that the choice was between Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump. Blanche took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump forced out his predecessor, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, with Trump becoming frustrated over the lack of action from the DOJ against his political foes. Blanche left a lucrative partnership to represent Trump in 2023 and has been at the center of the president's attempt to bend the federal government to his will. Earlier this year, Blanche spoke about how he would feel if someone else was named attorney general: "As to whether or not I want this job, I did not ask for this job. I love working for President Trump, it's the greatest honor of a lifetime. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, 'Thank you very much. I love you, sir.'"
Democrats have accused Blanche of prioritizing his loyalty to Trump above all else through investigations against Trump foes such as former FBI Director James Comey. According to Reuters, under Bondi and Blanche's leadership, the department has lost thousands of employees through firings, resignations or voluntary departures. Under deputy attorney general and later as acting attorney general, Blanche has overseen the investigations of numerous Trump foes, including former FBI Director James Comey, whom the Justice Department indicted in April for a second time since Trump returned to the White House last year. Blanche has strongly defended the Trump administration against accusations that it has weaponised the Justice Department, saying he feels no pressure to placate Trump and insists he sees no problem with the president's interest in Justice Department matters, calling it the president's "right" and "his duty." Blanche's defenders say the close relationship he developed with Trump as his defence lawyer can make him more successful than Bondi was at pushing back on the president's demands. The department has opened an investigation that centers around the lawsuits the writer E. Jean Carroll brought and won against Trump for sexual abuse and defamation, and the Justice Department's track record in court has challenged the presumption of regularity with federal judges repeatedly expressing concerns about the Trump administration not complying with court orders. The department has also seen several high-profile cases unravel recently, including dropping vandalism charges against a former Olympic canoeist and others over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson expressed concerns about Blanche's future independence, telling NBC News: "The biggest concern is whether he is now going to be emboldened to go even more gung-ho on Trump's campaign of using the Justice Department for retribution. There are no guardrails." As his nomination was pending, Blanche also promised anti-abortion advocates the department would make it permanent in every state, according to Politico. The confirmation allows Blanche to pursue the Trump administration's agenda even more aggressively after already leading the department in an acting capacity since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April. During his tenure as both the deputy attorney general and acting attorney general, the department has indicted former FBI director James Comey twice, New York attorney general Letitia James, the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center – all in cases that exerts see as thin. It has also tried to bring criminal charges against two Democratic senators, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and used its investigative powers to try and get leverage over Jerome Powell, the former chairman of the federal reserve.
