Trump attorney general pick Todd Blanche faces confirmation challenges
WASHINGTON— President Trump announced at a White House dinner Wednesday night that he wants to become a lawyer. General Todd Blanche’s leadership of the Department of Justice is enduring.
The president said he once thought approval of a personal defense attorney would happen “too quickly.” a video has been published from dinner.
However, early indications suggest that the process may be something more than that.
Blanche, who took on her current role after Trump fired the former Advocate. Gen. Pam Bondi became the face of some of the administration’s most unpopular actions in April, including a $1.8 billion “proliferation fund,” the Justice Department’s release of the so-called Epstein files, and a series of investigations that critics viewed as politically motivated.
Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.), who is on the committee, said in a statement: “He was nominated because he will do anything the President wants. Todd Blanche should be under investigation, promotion is not being considered.”
Blanche was confirmed as deputy attorney general on a party-line vote last year, but now faces a changing political climate where Senate Republicans feel more emboldened to question the administration’s actions.
Already, two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will decide Blanche’s fate, have expressed reservations about her nomination.
Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the committee, so losing two votes would likely disrupt Blanche’s confirmation.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn He told a CNN reporter Manu Raju said Thursday that he is concerned about the independence of Blanche, who is serving as Trump’s personal lawyer in the New York trial over alleged secret payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“Being attorney general is probably one of the toughest jobs in the Cabinet because you work for the president, but you also have to be able to say ‘no’ to the president,” Cornyn said. “Then we need to talk about this.”
Cornyn recently lost his first bid for re-election after endorsing Trump’s opponent, Texas Avty. General Ken Paxton.
Blanche has faced harsh criticism in recent weeks over the anti-gun fund created to resolve a lawsuit filed by Trump, his two sons and their companies against the Internal Revenue Service.
Blanche publicly withdrew the fund at a congressional hearing this week after critics described it as a slush fund for the president’s allies who believed they were being prosecuted for political purposes, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters that funding and any support for participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection would be an issue for him in Blanche’s nomination.
“The key for Todd or anyone who goes through the Judiciary Committee is to be pretty tough on January 6,” Tillis said.
Tillis, who is not seeking re-election, had previously delayed the confirmation of another Trump appointee — Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh — over the senator’s concerns about the investigation into outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell in connection with comments Powell made about renovating the Federal Reserve headquarters.
After the Powell investigation was dropped, Tillis supported Warsh’s candidacy.
And Blanche will likely face questions during the confirmation process about the department’s prosecution of other perceived political enemies of the president; They include former FBI Director James Comey, who faces charges in North Carolina over a photo he posted on social media that included seashells spelling out the numbers “86 47,” a reference to the president’s impeachment that prosecutors described as a death threat.
During Blanche’s first nomination hearing to become deputy attorney general, Tillis asked Blanche to promise not to launch any investigations that were specifically politically motivated.
“I have your commitment that there will be not even a whiff of an investigation that appears to be politically motivated.” Tillis asked.
“I undertake to do so,” replied Blanche.
Even if Blanche leaves the Senate Judiciary Committee, she could face a tough confirmation vote in the full Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats. Two Republican senators facing tough matchups for re-election, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and lame-duck Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana may prove to be tough votes to win.
Blanche was also criticized for her handling of the release of millions of pages of records from the Justice Department’s investigation of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and her interview with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Last week, Blanche’s predecessor, former Atty. General Pam Bondi placed the blame for the delayed release of the files and improper redactions on Blanche’s shoulders.
He also faced criticism for his decision. Interview with Maxwell He was sent to prison in Florida in July 2025 and transferred to a more comfortable prison in Texas shortly after being interviewed. The former British socialite’s lawyers have made clear that she is seeking a pardon for her 2021 conviction and 20-year prison sentence.
