Todd Blanche, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, has been confirmed as US attorney general after Senate Republicans overcame Democratic opposition and concerns about the politicisation of the Department of Justice.
The Senate voted 50-49 to approve Blanche on Saturday. Republicans hold only a narrow majority in the chamber, meaning the White House needed to secure the support of party members who had expressed reservations about his appointment.
Blanche had already been serving as acting attorney general after Trump dismissed Pam Bondi, another political ally, in April. His confirmation makes permanent a role in which he oversees the country’s top federal law-enforcement agency.
Before joining government, Blanche represented Trump in several criminal cases. The president has described him as a “star”, while Democrats have accused the administration of turning the Justice Department into a tool for political retaliation against Trump’s opponents.
“The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s lawyer,” Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Tuesday.
“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 White House faced uncertainty over whether it could win enough Republican votes to pass the nomination. The dispute centred in part on a proposed $1.8bn fund for people Trump describes as victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
The fund was expected to benefit some of those who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an attempt to prevent Joe Biden from being certified as president after defeating Trump in the 2020 election.
A second point of contention was a proposal that would have given Trump immunity from tax audits. The measure was described as an extraordinary arrangement involving the president, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization.
Blanche sought to settle the internal Republican dispute through a written order issued over the weekend. It scrapped the proposed political “anti-weaponization fund” and stated that the tax-audit immunity agreement would apply only “retroactively” to previous tax years, rather than to future filings.
Since taking over as acting attorney general, Blanche has been closely associated with what Democrats call Trump’s “retribution” campaign against his political enemies. Trump has sought to bring government bodies traditionally regarded as independent under more direct presidential control, prompting broader concerns over established political norms.
Blanche has also faced criticism from victims of Jeffrey Epstein over his handling of the release of investigative files relating to the convicted sex offender, who was once a close friend of Trump.
Before joining the Department of Justice, Blanche defended Trump in his New York trial over alleged “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
He also served on Trump’s legal team in two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith. One involved allegations that Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House, while the other accused him of seeking to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Both cases were dropped after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
