Trump says he’ll nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

Summary

• President Trump announced plans to nominate Todd Blanche for a full term leading the Justice Department.
• Blanche faces a potentially difficult Senate confirmation process amid Republican and Democratic criticism.
• Lawmakers recently challenged Blanche over a proposed $1.8B compensation fund for alleged victims of politicized prosecutions.
• Critics question Blanche’s independence from Trump.

President Donald Trump said he planned to formally nominate acting attorney general Todd Blanche for a full term as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, signaling confidence in his former personal defense lawyer’s leadership of a department over which the president has sought to exert unprecedented control.

Trump announced his intention to move forward Thursday with the nomination, according to a video of his Wednesday remarks during a White House dinner posted to social media by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.

“We are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said.

Blanche, who has held the job on a temporary basis since Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi this year, said during an unrelated news conference Thursday in Ohio that he was “honored and humbled” by the president’s comments.

Trump’s decision to back Blanche for a permanent term will kick off a Senate confirmation process that could face tough headwinds.

Some Republican senators have already expressed hesitation about supporting Blanche for the job, raising questions about recent comments in which they believed he appeared to excuse violence committed during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

More recently, Blanche faced open revolt from some portions of the Republican caucus in the Senate, as he unsuccessfully sought to defend a deal struck to settle legal claims Trump had filed against the government with the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who believe they have been victims of politicized prosecutions.

Facing bipartisan backlash, Blanche returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to announce that plans for the fund had been scuttled.

Still, Trump has repeatedly expressed approval for Blanche’s performance in his temporary post, including the day after Blanche’s reversal on the settlement deal.

“Todd’s doing a very good job at DOJ,” the president said during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the New York Post podcast “Pod Force One.” Trump added, “I wanted to see how he’s received. … We put him as acting, and he’s done a very good job, but I’ve known him a long time.”

Blanche, speaking at the Ohio event Thursday, said he felt confident his relationships in the Senate would carry him through the confirmation process.

“I’m looking forward to working with the senators and getting them the information they need,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) declined to predict Blanche’s odds in a Senate vote.

“Most of our members are pretty deferential to who the president wants in some of those key positions. And he’s obviously serving in the role already and clearly has experience in it. So, that’ll serve him well,” Thune said. “But this is an environment where nothing’s a safe or sure bet.”

Ultimately, it was Trump’s dissatisfaction with Bondi – namely over her failure to satisfy his desire to see his political enemies put on trial – that led to the president’s decision to fire her in April. Before Trump tapped Blanche to replace her, he had been serving as Bondi’s top deputy.

Since taking over the top job, Blanche has moved aggressively – and swiftly – to deliver results to Trump, while quickly racking up accusations from critics that he’s abandoned standard Justice Department norms and continues to operate as if he were working as Trump’s personal lawyer.

In less than three months in the job, Blanche and his department have secured an indictment against one of Trump’s chief critics, former FBI director James B. Comey; moved to undo the last remaining Jan. 6 convictions; rolled back gun regulations; pursued investigations into Trump’s unsupported fraud claims about his 2020 election loss; and released reports accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the justice system against conservatives.

Blanche has lauded the heavy influence Trump has sought to bear on the typically independent department, saying the president has a “right” and “duty” to say who he thinks prosecutors should be investigating.

Blanche’s announcement last month of the proposed deal to resolve Trump’s legal claims, including a lawsuit he filed against the IRS over leaked tax records, delivered the president what could have been one of his most significant victories yet.

The proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund would have granted a panel of Trump administration appointees control over a massive pot of taxpayer money with almost unchecked authority to dole it out to those who, like Trump, claim they have been unfairly targeted for prosecution.

The deal also included a provision that Blanche maintains would bar the government from pursuing any preexisting unpaid tax claims against Trump. The president has repeatedly complained that his tax filings from before his first presidency have been subject to repeated audits. Though it is unclear whether the IRS was still pursuing those reviews at the time of the settlement, the tax provisions of the deal could spare the Trumps from massive tax liability.

Though Blanche called off the plans for the compensation fund amid pushback from Republican lawmakers, he said the Justice Department intended to stand by the tax protections the settlement deal extended to the Trumps.

At a Capitol Hill hearing this week, Democrats accused him of still acting as if he were the president’s personal lawyer. Blanche previously represented Trump in his 2024 New York trial, which ended with his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to an adult-film actress.

He also led Trump’s defense in the two federal felony cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith – the first over his alleged retention of classified documents and the second over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Neither of those cases made it to trial.

Still, Blanche has bristled when asked whether he feels pressure to please Trump in his new role or if he viewed his stint as acting attorney general as an audition for a permanent shot at the job.

“I think the work the department has been doing since President Trump took office – if you look at any stat across the board – it’s much better,” he said Thursday. “We’re much safer, our communities are better off, drugs are coming off the streets, and that’s what President Trump expects.”