Todd Blanche Confirmed as Attorney General

Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, has been narrowly confirmed as attorney general in a tense Senate vote that ended a drawn-out clash over one of the administration’s most consequential appointments. The Todd Blanche confirmed as attorney general vote makes him the nation’s top law enforcement official and cements a Trump loyalist at the helm of the Justice Department.

Blanche was approved 50-49 overnight, with Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining every Democrat in opposition. Senator Bill Cassidy cast the decisive vote, a choice watched closely in Washington because of his long-running friction with Trump. Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since April, after Pam Bondi was fired, and had already been deputy attorney general before taking over in an interim capacity.

Republican unease centered on several issues, including Blanche’s handling of the release of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein and his role in setting up Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation” fund. The fund was intended to compensate people who said they had been targeted by the government, but critics feared it could end up benefiting people prosecuted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress. Blanche later promised to pull back the fund after backlash during his confirmation hearings.

That pledge did not fully settle concerns. It was still unclear whether the commitment would hold up legally or whether Trump could later push Blanche to revive a similar effort under a different name. Murkowski said she had no confidence Blanche would “check the worst impulses of this administration,” and she cited worries about the politicisation of the Justice Department when she announced her opposition on Friday.