Senate Confirms Trump Ally Todd Blanche as Attorney General in Narrow Vote

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche was confirmed as U.S. attorney general on Saturday after Senate Republicans voted along party lines to overcome Democratic objections over concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department.

Blanche, who has been serving as the department’s acting chief, represented Trump as his private attorney in multiple criminal cases before entering government. The Senate confirmed him 50-49, with all Democrats opposing the nomination.

Trump described Blanche as a “star” and has sought to bring nominally independent agencies under his direct control, reshaping traditional boundaries between the presidency and law enforcement.

Democrats argued that Blanche’s nomination threatened the independence of the Justice Department. “The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s lawyer,” Senator Dick Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, said. “Mr. Blanche continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer, treating the Justice Department like a law firm serving one client—the president.”

The confirmation came after intense negotiations within the Republican caucus, with leadership working to secure votes from holdout senators who had raised concerns about controversial proposals, including a plan to establish a $1.8 billion fund for victims of politically motivated prosecutions and an agreement granting tax audit immunity to Trump and his associates.

Blanche addressed these concerns by issuing a written order canceling the proposed “anti-weaponization fund” and clarifying that the tax audit immunity agreement would apply only retroactively to past filings, not future ones.

Since taking office as acting attorney general in April following Pam Bondi’s departure, Blanche has overseen a Justice Department aligned with Trump’s priorities, including investigations targeting the president’s Political adversaries. Critics note his close involvement in efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and his role in the New York hush-money case against Trump.

Blanche’s legal background includes representation of Trump in the former president’s civil fraud trial in New York and work on the legal defense teams for both the documents case and the January 6th investigation handled by special counsel Jack Smith—cases that were dismissed after Trump’s 2024 election victory.

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