WASHINGTON- President Trump announced Wednesday night at a White House dinner that he wanted to be acting prosecutor. General Todd Blanche's leadership of the Department of Justice is permanent.
The president said he thought confirmation of his former personal defense attorney would be “very quick,” according to a released video of the dinner.
But early indications suggest the process could be quite the opposite.
Blanche, who assumed her current role after Trump fired the former prosecutor. Gen. Pam Bondi, in April, has been the face of some of the administration's most unpopular actions, including the $1.8 billion “anti-armament fund,” the Justice Department's release of the so-called Epstein dossiers and a series of prosecutions that critics have viewed as politically motivated.
“He was nominated because he will do what the president asks of him. Todd Blanche should be under investigation, not under consideration for promotion,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who sits on the committee, said in a statement.
Blanche was confirmed as deputy attorney general last year in a vote along party lines, but now faces a changed political climate in which Senate Republicans have felt more emboldened to question the administration's actions.
Two Republicans who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will decide Blanche's fate, have already expressed reservations about her nomination.
Republicans have a 12-10 majority on the committee, so losing two votes would likely derail Blanche's confirmation.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn told CNN reporter Manu Raju on Thursday that he was concerned about the independence of Blanche, who served as Trump's personal attorney in a New York case over his alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“Being attorney general is probably one of the hardest jobs in the Cabinet, because you work for the president but you're also supposed to be able to say 'no,'” Cornyn said. “So we need to talk about it.”
Cornyn recently lost his primary bid for re-election after Trump endorsed his opponent, Texas Atty. General Ken Paxton.
In recent weeks, Blanche has faced harsh criticism over the anti-armament fund, which was created last month to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump, two of his sons and his businesses against the Internal Revenue Service.
Blanche publicly withdrew the fund at a congressional hearing this week, after critics described it as a slush fund for the president's allies who they believed had been prosecuted for political purposes, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters that the fund, and any support for participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection, would be a sticking point for him in Blanche's nomination.
“The key for Todd or anyone who goes through the Judiciary Committee is to be pretty tight on January 6,” Tillis said.
Tillis, who is not seeking re-election, previously delayed confirmation of another Trump appointee, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, over the senator's concern about the prosecution of outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell in connection with statements Powell had made about a renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters.
After the Powell investigation was dropped, Tillis supported Warsh's nomination.
And Blanche will likely face questions during the confirmation process about the department's prosecution of other alleged political enemies of the president, including former FBI Director James Comey, who faces charges in North Carolina over a photo he posted on social media of seashells spelling out the numbers “86 47,” a reference to the president's impeachment that prosecutors described as a death threat.
During Blanche's first nomination hearing to be deputy attorney general, Tillis specifically asked her to promise not to pursue any politically motivated prosecutions.
“Do I have your commitment that there will not be even the slightest hint of an investigation that appears to be politically motivated?” -Tillis asked.
“I'm committed to that,” Blanche responded.
Even if she leaves the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche could face a tough confirmation vote on the full Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats. Two Republican senators facing tough reelection matchups, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, along with outgoing Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, could prove to be tough votes to win.
Blanche has also been criticized for her handling of the release of millions of pages of records from the Justice Department's investigation into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as her interview with Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Last week, Blanche's predecessor, the former prosecutor. Gen. Pam Bondi blamed Blanche for the delay in releasing the files and inadequate redactions.
He has also faced criticism for his decision to interview Maxwell in his Florida prison in July 2025, and for his transfer to a more comfortable prison in Texas shortly after conducting the interview. The former British socialite's lawyers have made it clear that she is seeking a pardon for her 2021 conviction and 20-year prison sentence.
