, who risked his career as a prestigious member of New York’s legal establishment to keep Donald Trump out of jail, was confirmed on Saturday (8 August) as the attorney general.
Todd Blanche, 52, will now permanently act as the nation’s top law enforcement officer under the leadership of his former client.
He was confirmed by a vote of 50 to 49 with GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voting with Democrats against the nomination.
Two Republican defections nearly derail the vote
Confirmation was never guaranteed. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska crossed over to vote with every Senate Democrat against Blanche. A late reversal from a third sceptical Republican, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, pushed Blanche over the line on Friday.
Both women pointed to the same worry: that the department under Blanche has stopped acting as a check on the president. “The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
An IRS settlement that became a flashpoint
The clearest source of unease was a deal Blanche helped broker: a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Its terms gave Trump, two of his sons and his businesses immunity from tax audits, and created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people the president says were persecuted by the government, potentially including some charged over the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol.
Republicans delayed the nomination over the fund until Blanche gave written assurance on Sunday night that it would not proceed and that the audit immunity would be narrowed. That satisfied them, but not Collins or Murkowski, who said Blanche’s role in designing the deal, not just its final terms, was disqualifying.
Murkowski added the commitments “could be undone and the fund could too easily be restored” once Blanche no longer needed Senate votes, and cited the department’s handling of the Epstein files and Blanche’s assurances to anti-abortion groups on enforcing the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Trump’s threat to bypass the Senate entirely
Rather than surrender the audit immunity or formally kill the fund, which he said this week he still hopes to revive, Trump signalled he would sooner leave Blanche running the department indefinitely in an acting capacity.
That threat shaped Cassidy’s decision.
Cassidy called Todd Blanche’s role in the fund “poor judgment” but said private talks left him believing Blanche now saw it as a mistake, and argued confirmation would give Blanche “greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for” than one left in limbo.
Cassidy grew emotional announcing his vote. “I’ll be criticized for this vote,” he said. “What’s new?” He added that his constituents could be “assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.” Murkowski said she respected the thought he had put into it: “We both have to live with our choices, live with our votes, and trust that we have done the best job that we can.”
Todd Blanche already DoJ’s real leader, after Pam Bondi exit?
The vote changed less than it might appear. Blanche has been acting attorney general since Bondi was fired in April, and reportedly ran the department well before that. One official called the confirmation simply: “This is exactly what he’s been waiting for.”
Under Todd Blanche, the department has indicted figures including former FBI director James Comey, subpoenaed records aimed at unmasking journalists’ sources, stood up and then abandoned the anti-weaponization fund, and finalised the IRS immunity deal. When the Epstein files controversy sidelined Bondi from television, Blanche managed the crisis himself, a pattern expected to continue.
Todd Blanche: From defence table to the top of the department
A career federal prosecutor turned partner at , Blanche agreed in April 2023 to represent Trump, then facing three federal indictments, surprising colleagues who knew him as an apolitical registered Democrat.
Blanche sat beside Trump through the hush-money trial, helped delay sentencing until after the election, and later helped secure a Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential immunity, plus a dismissal of the classified documents case in Florida. Nominated as deputy attorney general despite saying he wanted no government post, Blanche impressed Trump as frustration grew with Bondi, moving into her office within a week of her dismissal.
