{"id":988697,"date":"2026-08-08T09:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988697\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:51:16","slug":"senate-confirms-blanche-as-attorney-general-in-overnight-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988697\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate confirms Blanche as attorney general in overnight vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche<\/a> as attorney general in a vote early Saturday morning, cementing President Donald Trump\u2019s former personal attorney\u2019s command of a Justice Department the Republican president has sought to bend to his will<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Republican-led Senate voted 50-49 to make Blanche the second confirmed attorney general since Trump returned to the White House last year with a stated desire to use the law enforcement agency to investigate his political enemies. While Blanche has already been leading the department in an acting capacity, his confirmation could free him to pursue the Trump administration\u2019s agenda even more aggressively. <\/p>\n

Blanche said on social media that he was \u201cdeeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me,\u201d adding that he was \u201cgrateful\u201d to senators for working late to confirm him. <\/p>\n

The vote followed a tumultuous confirmation fight that exposed deep concerns \u2014 from some Republicans as well as Democrats \u2014 about installing Trump\u2019s close ally atop a Justice Department that historically prided itself on its independence from the White House. <\/p>\n

In the end, Blanche was confirmed by the narrowest of margins, opposed by two Republicans \u2014 Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska \u2014 and by every Democrat. <\/p>\n

The path to confirmation for Blanche was unusually rocky, due in large part to Republican concerns about a controversial settlement of Trump\u2019s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.<\/p>\n

Under pressure, Blanche publicly promised in writing<\/a> that the department would abandon Trump\u2019s proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund<\/a> for the president\u2019s allies, including those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021<\/a>, and rein in another piece of the settlement designed to shield Trump and his family from IRS tax audits.<\/p>\n

His appeals were enough to win over Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, the decisive vote who threw his support behind Blanche Friday morning. Cassidy said no other nominee may be able to run the department better under Trump and suggested Blanche\u2019s role as Trump\u2019s former criminal defense lawyer can make him more effective at pushing back on the president\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,\u201d said Cassidy, who lost his primary this year to a Trump-backed challenger. <\/p>\n

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said confirming Blanche would be a \u201cserious mistake.\u201d He begged his colleagues not to be on the \u201cwrong side\u201d of history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is ever a moment in history when we need an Attorney General above reproach, who is clearly dedicated to ending corruption, even at the highest level of our government, it\u2019s right now,\u201d Durbin said.<\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s loyalty to Trump left senators skeptical<\/p>\n

The vote capped off a bruising confirmation fight<\/a>, with Blanche\u2019s loyalty to Trump at the center of the stalemate.<\/p>\n

Blanche was elevated to the top Justice Department post in an acting capacity after Trump fired Pam Bondi<\/a> in April. Blanche moved swiftly to advance the president\u2019s interests, accelerating investigations into Trump\u2019s perceived foes and announcing the settlement that created the $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d<\/a> to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The controversial settlement threatened to torpedo Blanche\u2019s nomination until he formally rescinded the fund in writing under pressure from Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The deal reached <\/a> between the senators and the department unlocked a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which advanced Blanche\u2019s nomination earlier this week<\/a><\/p>\n

Even after the deal, Blanche faced opposition from some Republican senators concerned with the \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d and the tax audit immunity deal. <\/p>\n

Murkowski announced early Friday that she would join Collins in opposing Blanche\u2019s nomination, saying the country needs an attorney general \u201cwho will check the worst impulses of this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former prosecutor rises as Trump\u2019s defender<\/p>\n

A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche rose to public prominence as a lead attorney on Trump\u2019s defense team, including during the Republican\u2019s hush money trial in New York.<\/a> He also defended Trump against criminal charges in the two federal cases brought by the Biden administration\u2019s Department of Justice<\/a> \u2014 an experience Blanche has said provided him a firsthand look at what he contends was the weaponization of the criminal justice system against Trump.<\/p>\n

Blanche entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general under Bondi<\/a>, overseeing the agency\u2019s day-to-day operations and serving as the public face for high-profile and controversial matters, like the release of millions of investigative files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. <\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats have accused Blanche of prioritizing his loyalty to Trump above all else through investigations against Trump foes such as former FBI Director James Comey and a radical reshaping of the department. Under Bondi and Blanche\u2019s leadership, the department has lost thousands of employees<\/a> through firings, resignations or voluntary departures. <\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s supporters say his experience as a federal prosecutor and the trust he earned from Trump in the courtroom make him better equipped than Bondi to explain to the White House the legal constraints of its demands. Republicans have also touted his efforts to bring down violent crime, tackle illegal immigration and combat violent cartels and drug trafficking. <\/p>\n

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, gave a full-throated endorsement of Blanche ahead of voting, saying he\u2019s led the Justice Department with distinction. \u201cMr. Blanche is the right choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But it remains unclear whether Blanche will fare any better<\/a> in delivering on Trump\u2019s desire for retribution than Bondi, whom Trump fired amid resistance from judges, grand jurors and the department\u2019s own workforce as prosecutors sought to establish criminal conduct by one Trump foe after another. <\/p>\n

Shortly after Blanche took the top post, the Justice Department moved to indict Comey<\/a> on charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement of \u201c86 47.\u201d Comey\u2019s lawyers are pressing to have the case dismissed, accusing the department of misleading judges, submitting documents containing false statements and withholding key facts. <\/p>\n

Blanche has also appointed Joseph diGenova, a former Justice Department prosecutor from the Reagan administration, to oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired<\/a> over the last decade to undermine Trump. But it remains uncertain whether that probe will result in any criminal charges. <\/p>\n

__ <\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Bill Barrow, Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a vote early Saturday morning, cementing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":988698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[13671,934,42098,396479,45319,327,12785,84,69,57,2055,47593,4228,49023,15053,25227,345079,361,26451,353,2741,2735,8132,50,11335,80,96269,15119,16537,618,16538,95,89,94,61,322,67,370,326,132,68,333,93],"class_list":["post-988697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-ak-state-wire","tag-alaska","tag-bill-cassidy","tag-blanche-friday","tag-chuck-grassley","tag-congress","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-government-appointments-and-nominations","tag-indictments","tag-james-comey","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-john-cornyn","tag-joseph-digenova","tag-la-state-wire","tag-lisa-murkowski","tag-louisiana","tag-maine","tag-me-state-wire","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-pam-bondi","tag-politics","tag-richard-durbin","tag-ronald-reagan","tag-susan-collins","tag-taxes","tag-thom-tillis","tag-todd-blanche","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-united-states-house-of-representatives","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-voting","tag-washington-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/988698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}