US Senate confirms Trump loyalist Todd Blanche as attorney general in razor-thin vote
The former Trump defence lawyer won confirmation by a single vote after conceding on a controversial victims fund and tax audit immunity plan.
The US Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general by a margin of 50 votes to 49, handing Donald Trump a loyalist atop the Justice Department after a party-line battle that exposed deep Republican unease over the nominee's independence. Blanche, who has been running the department in an acting capacity since April, served as Trump's personal counsel in multiple criminal cases before entering government.
Democrats argued throughout the process that Blanche would treat the Justice Department as an extension of the White House counsel's office. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Tuesday: "The attorney general is supposed to be the people's lawyer. Mr Blanche continues to operate as the president's personal lawyer, treating the Justice Department like a law firm serving one client, the president."
Republican leaders needed every member of their slim majority after several senators signalled opposition to two sweeping proposals. The first was a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponisation fund" intended to compensate people Trump describes as victims of politicised prosecutions, a category likely to include defendants from the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. The second was an extraordinary agreement granting Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization immunity from future tax audits.
Blanche defused the rebellion over the weekend with a written order scrapping the fund entirely and restricting the audit immunity to past tax years only. Those concessions brought the holdouts into line, allowing the confirmation to proceed on Saturday.
Before joining the administration, Blanche represented Trump in the New York hush-money trial involving payments to Stormy Daniels, and in two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, one concerning classified documents retained after Trump left office, the other alleging efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Both federal cases were dropped after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Since taking the acting role in April, following the dismissal of Pam Bondi, Blanche has overseen what Democrats describe as a retribution campaign against the president's perceived enemies. He has also faced criticism from victims of Jeffrey Epstein over the handling of investigative files related to the convicted sex offender, a one-time associate of Trump.
With Senate confirmation complete, Blanche assumes full authority over a department of more than 115,000 employees, including the FBI. The immediate focus will be on whether he follows through on the limits he accepted regarding the victims fund and tax audit immunity, and how he manages politically sensitive investigations inherited from the previous administration. Democrats have vowed rigorous oversight, but with Republicans controlling both chambers, legislative checks are unlikely.