The lineup for the Republican National Committee’s inaugural midterm convention is out and one headliner is already stirring up controversy.
Attorney General Todd Blanche is among the dozens of GOP top brass slated to appear at the two-day event, which RNC Chairman Joe Gruters billed as a “Trumpapalooza” after it was announced in late June.
As the nation’s top law enforcement official, speaking at the event could put Blanche in violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits federal employees from partisan political activity.
Christopher Hale, a former staffer for President Barack Obama, flagged the conflict in an X post after Axios leaked the bill of speakers on Saturday.
Shortly after the scoop, the RNC confirmed the attorney general was in the mix in a press release on its website.
Before being tapped to lead the Justice Department, Blanche served as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.
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His resumé faced intense scrutiny during a contentious confirmation battle for attorney general this summer, but he was eventually approved by a razor-thin 49-50 margin in the Senate.
Other big names set to stump for down-ballot GOP candidates at the event include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently departed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
The RNC might be taking a huge risk with the Trump-centric event, which will take place in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 9 and 10.
Despite polls showing the president’s approval rating is even sinking with Republicans, GOP leadership is hoping the event will energize the MAGA base in a year when control of the House and Senate both appear to hang in the balance.
The party is already messaging its plans to convince voters the Democratic Party has been “hijacked by the radical Left and defined by their most extreme, out-of-touch, anti-American views” and the Republicans “represent the mainstream, practical values of everyday Americans.”
In Saturday’s press release outlining the convention’s keynote speakers, chairman Gruters declared, “Come November, the American people are going to see this choice clearly and they are going to deliver a landslide for common sense.”