{"id":219919,"date":"2026-08-09T01:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T01:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-after-weeks-of-uncertainty-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T01:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T01:01:26","slug":"senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-after-weeks-of-uncertainty-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-after-weeks-of-uncertainty-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general after weeks of uncertainty – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday in a mostly party-line vote, capping off weeks of uncertainty and despite bipartisan concerns <\/a>about his ability to run a Justice Department independent of President Donald Trump\u2019s impulses.
Blanche, who was formerly Trump\u2019s personal attorney, was confirmed by a vote of 50-49, with only two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting against him along with all Democrats.
The vote was held after 4 a.m. on Saturday, as a late-night session ran over into the early hours ahead of a planned Senate recess.
\u201cI am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation\u2019s 88th Attorney General,\u201d Blanche said in a post on X, adding: \u201cI am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process.\u201d
His confirmation had been in jeopardy, largely over concerns about his handling of the so-called anti-weaponization fund, which was established in connection with a purported settlement between private citizen Trump and the federal government he now controls. That fund could have been used to give money to Trump allies who claimed they were victims of government overreach, including people who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Blanche had also signed off on another part of the deal that gave Trump, his family members and his businesses immunity from tax audits.
Earlier Republican holdouts, Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, ultimately backed Blanche after receiving various assurances from the nominee, including an order rescinding the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.<\/a> (A legal loophole could still revive the fund<\/a>, however.)
Lawmakers from both parties had also expressed discomfort about Blanche\u2019s personal history with the president.
\u201cThe problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can\u2019t do it,\u201d Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee\u2019s vote advancing Blanche\u2019s nomination. \u201cHe will never do what\u2019s best for the American people. He will only do what\u2019s best for Donald Trump, and you cannot leave someone like that as the nation\u2019s No. 1 law enforcement official.\u201d
Blanche took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump forced out his predecessor<\/a>, Pam Bondi. Trump had become frustrated<\/a> with Bondi over the lack of action from the DOJ against his political foes.<\/a>
Blanche told NBC News in April, after he took over the Justice Department in an acting capacity, that Americans should be \u201chappy<\/a>\u201d with Trump\u2019s involvement in the Justice Department\u2019s operations.
Weeks after Bondi\u2019s dismissal, the Justice Department indicted<\/a> former FBI Director James Comey, who is accused of threatening the president\u2019s life by posting a photo of seashells<\/a> in the shape of \u201c8647\u201d to Instagram.
Critics have questioned whether Blanche will stand up to Trump\u2019s future desires to target his political enemies.
\u201cThe biggest concern is whether he is now going to be emboldened to go even more gung-ho on Trump\u2019s campaign of using the Justice Department for retribution,\u201d former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson told NBC News<\/a> in an interview prior to his confirmation. \u201cThere are no guardrails.\u201d
Trump\u2019s attorneys general in his first term also departed under pressure to act on the president\u2019s behalf. Jeff Sessions was forced out after the 2018 midterms in part due Trump\u2019s frustration with his recusal from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an investigation that led to the Mueller report. Former Attorney General William Barr left after Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.
Frank Thorp V is a coordinating producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
Brennan Leach is an associate producer for NBC News covering the Senate.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday in a mostly party-line vote, capping off weeks of uncertainty and despite bipartisan concerns about his ability to run a Justice Department independent of President Donald Trump\u2019s impulses.Blanche, who was formerly Trump\u2019s personal attorney, was confirmed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}