Trump formally nominates Todd Blanche as attorney general

Washington — President Trump nominated Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general on Monday, aiming to formalize the onetime Trump defense lawyer’s control over the Justice Department.

Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Mr. Trump fired Pam Bondi from the post in April. He previously spent just over a year as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 official who is responsible for overseeing all of the Justice Department’s criminal and national security work.

The White House formally sent Blanche’s nomination to the Senate on Monday. The president indicated during a White House Rose Garden dinner last week that he would nominate Blanche to the post, according to a video White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted to X.

Blanche may face an uphill battle in the confirmation process, given the wariness of some GOP senators who are leaving Congress in January. One of those outgoing lawmakers, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, told reporters last Thursday he hasn’t decided whether to support Blanche when his nomination reaches the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said the “key” to winning his support will be for Blanche to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

In recent weeks, Blanche and the Justice Department drew bipartisan pushback for planning to set up a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” with the power to pay out claims to people who allege they were victims of government persecution. Democrats cast it as a “slush fund” for Trump allies, and some Republicans raised fears that convicted Jan. 6 rioters and other lawbreakers would apply for relief. 

The fund was part of a settlement between Mr. Trump and the government over the leaking of his tax returns, and in trying to defend it, Blanche faced what GOP Sen. Ted Cruz called a “full-on revolt” in a meeting with GOP senators, and other Senate business was temporarily stalled.

Last week, Blanche told lawmakers the department was “not moving forward” with the fund, after a judge blocked the government from implementing it, and the Justice Department confirmed in a court filing that it would not go forward.

The saga could reemerge during Blanche’s Senate confirmation. Tillis has criticized the anti-weaponization fund, though he said the decision not to move forward with the fund “improves Todd’s chances.” Tillis has already slowed some of the president’s nominees, delaying consideration of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh until the Justice Department dropped its investigation into former Chair Jerome Powell.

During his brief tenure as acting attorney general, Blanche has also overseen controversial indictments and investigations against Mr. Trump’s political enemies, several of which have been panned by legal experts for lacking the basic elements to establish that any crimes were committed.

In one case, the Justice Department charged former FBI Director James Comey with making threats against Mr. Trump, after the Trump foe posted a photo on Instagram that showed a photo of seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47.”

The agency has had trouble making charges stick in some cases and has struggled in others to secure grand jury indictments. Earlier cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James were tossed last year because a judge found the prosecutor was invalidly appointed. A grand jury also declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers.

The department is also facing allegations of vindictive prosecution after it charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with defrauding donors and banks by funneling money to informants inside extremist hate groups. That case has also faced widespread criticism by former prosecutors who say it fails to demonstrate how donors or banks were defrauded.

And late last month, a judge who was presiding over the Justice Department’s prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia dismissed the charges, finding the case was vindictive. As evidence, the judge cited public comments Blanche had made about the case, along with the involvement of one of his main deputies.

“As deputy attorney general and acting attorney general, Blanche bears responsibility for the Justice Department’s transformation into a protector of the president’s personal and political interests, rather than the people’s protector through the neutrality of prosecutorial powers,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She went on to say that he “bears responsibility” for transforming the Justice Department “into an instrument of Trump’s personal rage and revenge.” 

Critics have accused the Trump administration of eroding the Justice Department’s apolitical culture and its history of operating at an arm’s length from the White House.

Blanche has strongly denied the allegations, stating that Mr. Trump isn’t directing prosecutors to pursue his adversaries, but he has also said it is appropriate for the president to take a leadership role in law enforcement matters. He has also contended the agency wasn’t all that apolitical to begin with, pointing to the Trump prosecutions, which were overseen by an independent special counsel appointed by Biden-era Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Blanche has defended the Justice Department’s track record, touting the agency’s focus on prosecuting violent crime, gang offenses, drug crimes, immigration and fraud. He told lawmakers last week the agency has made “tremendous progress” in stemming violent crime.

On Fox News Saturday, Blanche said his primary objective as attorney general would be “executing on the president’s priorities that he has talked about since he was running for president, and that’s making this country safe again.”

Early in his career, Blanche worked for the Justice Department as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, before moving to the white-shoe law firms WilmerHale and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He entered Mr. Trump’s orbit in 2023, when he joined the then-former president’s legal team to defend against charges in New York state court. He also defended the president against federal charges related to the 2020 election and classified documents.

Mr. Trump has had high expectations for his prior attorneys general — and has frequently grown frustrated if he believes they are not acting in his interest. His first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, drew the president’s ire after he recused himself from the investigation into Russian election meddling, and he was eventually forced out. Attorney General Bill Barr resigned following the 2020 election after he contradicted Mr. Trump’s unproven voter fraud claims.

In his second term, Mr. Trump initially picked loyalist former Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general, but Gaetz quickly withdrew his nomination amid an ethics probe. The president then chose Bondi, a longtime ally, but fired her in April 2026, dissatisfied with how aggressively she pursued his priorities at the Justice Department.

Among Mr. Trump’s frustrations with Bondi was a lack of progress on investigating his perceived political opponents, CBS News has reported. She also endured criticism over the department’s handling of a legally mandated push to release files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

At various points, Mr. Trump’s views spilled out into the open. Last fall, he penned a Truth Social post that appeared to urge Bondi to look into Comey and James, writing: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.” Both of them were charged by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Virginia within weeks.