(Headline USA) The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a vote early Saturday morning.
The Republican-led Senate voted 50-49 to make Blanche the second confirmed attorney general since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. While Blanche has already been leading the department in an acting capacity, his confirmation could free him to pursue the Trump administration’s agenda.
Blanche said on social media that he was “deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me,” adding that he was “grateful” to senators for working late to confirm him.
Blanche, who was a Democrat before representing Trump, was confirmed by the narrowest of margins, opposed by two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — and by every Democrat.
The path to confirmation for Blanche was unusually rocky, due in large part to moderate Republican concerns about a controversial settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
Under pressure, Blanche publicly promised in writing that the department would abandon Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for the president’s allies, including those who were persecuted for protesting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and rein in another piece of the settlement designed to shield Trump and his family from IRS tax audits.
His appeals were enough to win over Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, the decisive vote who threw his support behind Blanche Friday morning.
“This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,” said Cassidy, who lost his primary this year to a Trump-backed challenger.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said confirming Blanche would be a “serious mistake.” He begged his colleagues not to be on the “wrong side” of history.
Former prosecutor rises as Trump’s defender
A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche rose to public prominence as a lead attorney on Trump’s defense team, including during the Republican’s hush money trial in New York. He also defended Trump against criminal charges in the two federal cases brought by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice — an experience Blanche has said provided him a firsthand look at what he contends was the weaponization of the criminal justice system against Trump.
Blanche entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general under Bondi, overseeing the agency’s 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.
Blanche’s 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.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, gave a full-throated endorsement of Blanche ahead of voting, saying he’s led the Justice Department with distinction. “Mr. Blanche is the right choice,” he said.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
