WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans confirmed Todd Blanche to be U.S. attorney general, shrugging off his corruption, his steadfast loyalty to President Donald Trump and his politicization of the Justice Department in the months he’s been in this job in an acting role.
Blanche was narrowly confirmed in a 50-49 vote. Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting no: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Every senator could have reasonably opposed confirming Blanche, who was previously Trump’s personal lawyer, by raising concerns about his record of putting his loyalty to Trump over the law.
Despite Congress passing a law late last year requiring immediate action, Blanche has prevented the public release of millions of files relating to the Justice Department’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was close with Trump.
Blanche has overseen criminal cases targeting a number of the president’s perceived political enemies, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, former FBI Director James Comey, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Adam Schiff of California and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
In April, he indicted Comey ― whom Trump has had it out for since he led an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election ― and charged him with threatening Trump’s life by posting a photo of seashells on social media.
A month later, Blanche signed off on a sham “settlement” in a lawsuit that Trump brought against his own administration, granting the president, his family and his businesses sweeping immunity from tax audits. This supposed settlement also created a wildly problematic $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to give payouts to pro-Trump Jan. 6, 2021 rioters.
In her statement opposing Blanche, Murkowski raised several of these points as evidence that he can’t be a reliable check on the president.
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
In still another problem raised by the Alaska Republican, Blanche last week assured faith leaders that he plans to use his powerful role to suppress abortion access nationwide and to curb the shipment of abortion pills.
“We don’t have complete victory yet, but we will have victory, and victory will be soon, and it will be permanent,” he said, according to a recording of the call posted online by Intercessors for America, a Christian ministry.
Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal attorney in a number of high-profile cases, including his 2024 New York hush money trial that resulted in him becoming the first U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes. Blanche also represented Trump in his 2020 election inference case, and in the Florida case accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Blanche’s legal strategy was to delay both cases until after the 2024 election, at which point Trump would be immune from lawsuits if elected president. He was, and it worked. Days after the election, Trump tapped Blanche to be his second-highest-ranking Justice Department official.
If one more Senate Republican had opposed Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general, he would not have been confirmed. It all came down to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in the end, who was wobbly on his vote for days but announced Friday he would support Blanche.
“This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “All things considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche.”
Cassidy faced significant blowback last year after being the final vote needed to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., particularly because the senator is a physician and Kennedy is a notorious spreader of disinformation about the safety of vaccines. As he announced his support for Blanche, Cassidy said he figured people wouldn’t be happy with his vote this time around, either.
“I’ll be criticized for this vote,” Cassidy said, appearing to get choked up. “What’s new.”
For all the nail-biting over whether Blanche would get confirmed, he would have been able to serve in an acting role for years. Because the Senate previously confirmed him as deputy attorney general, his confirmation was essentially a political test for the president and Republican senators, and is unlikely to change anything operationally within the Justice Department.