US Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general

Washington – 08/08/2026: The US Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general of the United States by a 50-49 vote overnight into Saturday. The former personal criminal defense attorney of President Donald Trump has been leading the department in an acting capacity since April. With the vote, he now receives a regular appointment at the head of the federal government’s most important law enforcement agency.

Trump officially nominated Blanche for the post on June 8. He had previously served as deputy attorney general and moved up to acting head of the agency after Pam Bondi was dismissed. He is already the second Senate-confirmed attorney general during Trump’s term in office, which has been underway since 2025. Despite the Republican majority in the chamber, the vote was extremely close.

In addition to the Democrats, Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the candidate. Both had expressed doubts about the department’s political independence. Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana ultimately cast the decisive vote for Blanche. He justified his support with the hope that Blanche could uphold legal boundaries vis-a-vis the White House within the administration.

A settlement between the Justice Department and the IRS was particularly controversial. It initially provided for a $1.8 billion compensation fund for people who believed they had been politically disadvantaged by law enforcement agencies. According to the Associated Press, participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol could also have benefited from it. The agreement also included far-reaching provisions concerning tax audits of Trump and his family.

Under pressure from Republican senators, Blanche pledged in writing not to pursue the fund further and to limit the tax-related safeguards. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had made their support conditional on such assurances. Only then did the Senate Judiciary Committee advance the nomination to a final vote.

Democrats see the personnel decision as a threat to the institutional distance between the White House and the Justice Department. Blanche represented Trump in the New York criminal case involving concealed hush-money payments, as well as in two federal cases. His supporters, on the other hand, point to his previous work as a federal prosecutor and his knowledge of the agency. The fact that his confirmation came only after concessions and that two Republican senators voted against him documents the reservations surrounding a minister whose previous closeness to the president overshadowed the entire nomination.