President Donald Trump has nominated former personal attorney Todd Blanche to officially take over the role of attorney general, the highest ranking law enforcement agency in the United States.
Mr. Blanche is currently serving as Attorney General in an interim capacity. However, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act typically limits the term of these interim leaders to 210 days.
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As of Monday, he has held the position for approximately 67 days since his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was fired on April 2. However, if he nominates a nominee, President Trump could legally extend the interim period beyond 210 days.
Blanche’s nomination is expected to lead to heated confirmation hearings in the Senate.
But this is not the first time Blanche has endured intense scrutiny in the Senate. On March 5 of last year, he was confirmed as deputy attorney general on a party-line vote of 52-46, with all Senate Democrats opposed.
Republicans hold a slim majority of 53 seats in the 100-member chamber.
Still, the past year has raised new questions about Blanche’s ability to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ), the main law enforcement agency responsible for investigations, prosecutions and the federal prison system.
Senate confirmation requires only a simple majority, but there are concerns that Blanche’s tenure so far has divided Republicans in the chamber.
From private practice to government agency
Branch first joined Trump’s inner circle in 2023, when Trump was facing four criminal indictments, two at the state level and two at the federal level.
One of the cases concerned President Trump’s hush-money agreement with former adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors argued that he tried to conceal hush money payments through illegal means to protect his success in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was ultimately convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents.
Although it was the first time in history that a U.S. president was convicted, Trump was not fined or sentenced to prison. The judge handed down an “unconditional discharge,” exempting him from any punishment beyond a conviction.
President Trump has denied any wrongdoing and is seeking to have the conviction overturned.
Blanche was part of Trump’s legal team during the trial and remained in Trump’s orbit as Republican leaders began campaigning for re-election in 2024.
He was one of a handful of Trump’s former personal lawyers who ended up joining the second administration, including Emile Bove, now a judge on the Court of Appeals, and Lindsey Harrigan, who briefly served as interim U.S. attorney.
But since President Trump began his second term in January 2025, concerns have emerged that the Justice Department is losing its prosecutorial independence. The department has publicly adhered to long-standing norms that prohibit political interests from leading investigations or prosecutions.
Blanche is at the center of these concerns. In his role as deputy attorney general, Blanche stepped into some of the Justice Department’s most controversial moments last year.
For example, in July, he met with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell to ask about her investigation into her ex-partner, the late Jeffrey Epstein, who was brought back into the public eye under the Trump administration.
Questions have been raised about how much powerful people like Trump know about Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, and Maxwell’s interview was widely seen as an attempt to defuse criticism.
After Maxwell testified in Blanche’s interview that Trump had not committed any wrongdoing, he was transferred to a minimum-security prison in Texas, sparking an outcry.
Outrage over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein file reportedly led to Bondi’s abrupt resignation in April.
Republican Party split
Since being appointed as Bondi’s interim replacement, Blanche has been the subject of bipartisan criticism.
He was one of the architects of a controversial settlement last month that ended President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, part of his executive branch.
Critics had denounced the case as a conflict of interest, given President Trump’s influence over the Justice Department lawyers who represent the IRS.
However, this settlement was equally divisive. Granted President Trump and his family immunity from future IRS tax audits and established a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate victims of government “laws.”
President Trump has used words like “use of arms” and “law” to describe charges against his supporters, including the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
During his testimony before Congress, Blanche did not rule out using “anti-weaponization” funds to pay the January 6 protesters who attacked police officers. But he later told a House committee that the fund “is not moving forward” amid bipartisan opposition.
Since Blanche was named interim attorney general, the Justice Department has also brought a second controversial indictment against Trump critic and former FBI director James Comey.
The case centers on Comey posting messages written in seashells on social media that prosecutors say were threats against Trump. Critics have widely denounced the indictment as a flimsy attack on Comey’s First Amendment free speech rights.
As news of Trump’s nomination spread on Monday, Democrats quickly issued a statement calling on the Senate to reject Blanche’s nomination.
“Todd Blanche is not working for the American people. He is working for one man,” said Xavier Becerra, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor.
“He weaponized the Justice Department to go after Trump’s enemies. He set up a slush fund for Trump’s allies. He fabricated the Epstein file. He turned the nation’s highest law enforcement agency into a personal convenience factory. The Senate must reject this nomination.”
But Senate Republican leaders rallied behind Blanche’s nomination.
“Today, the Senate received President Trump’s nomination of Todd Branch to be Attorney General of the United States,” Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote.
“I have worked with Acting Attorney General Blanche for over a year and appreciate his commitment to transparency and support for law enforcement.”
However, it remains to be seen whether some Republicans in the Senate who criticize Blanche will join party leadership. For example, outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis asked Blanche to denounce the mob that attacked police officers on Jan. 6 as a condition of her confirmation vote.
