Skip to main content

Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

President Trump has nominated Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, to serve as attorney general.

Getting into it: The nomination, sent to the Senate on Monday, would make permanent a job Blanche has held in an acting capacity since Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, on April 2. Temporary leaders normally get capped at 210 days, but formally sending a name to the Senate hands Trump a legal way to keep Blanche in the acting seat past that ceiling.

P20250306JB

Confirmation only takes a simple majority, but it might be a real pain in the ass to get him through as Republicans hold 53 seats and there’s been a growing rift between Senate Republicans and the president over Trump’s recent push for an anti-weaponization fund. The now-dead $1.8 billion fund, which was approved by Blanche and meant to cut checks to people claiming they got railroaded by government “lawfare,” sparked a revolt among Republicans worried it could end up paying January 6 rioters who assaulted police. Some Republican lawmakers reportedly “yelled” at Blanche over the fund, a backlash that ultimately led to it being pulled.

Senators are also going to come after him on how the department dumped the Epstein files, a process Bondi has said landed on Blanche’s desk and one that took heat for leaving some victims’ names exposed and sitting on a stack of records. He’ll also likely get some shit for his sit-down interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice, who got shipped to a minimum-security lockup not long after, which has only added to the scrutiny.

This all comes as Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley backed Blanche as “well-qualified” and signaled he wants the vote wrapped up fast, while skeptical Republicans like Bill Cassidy said they need convincing that Blanche is an attorney general who used to be Trump’s lawyer rather than the reverse.

Democrats were blunter, with Senator Adam Schiff accusing Blanche of blessing “a corrupt slush fund for cop beaters.”

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Keep up to date with our latest videos, news and content