Topline
President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening said he intends to nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to officially take over the role of heading the Justice Department, two months after former Attorney General Pam Bondi resigned.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks as US President Donald Trump listens during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump announced his plan to nominate his former personal attorney to the top DOJ role during a White House dinner on Wednesday evening, according to a clip posted by deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino.
In the clip shared on X, Trump says that on Thursday, he’s instructing Scavino and others to begin the process of nominating Blanche as the “permanent attorney general.”
Blanche has served as acting Attorney General since Bondi’s resignation in April.
Blanche has not yet publicly commented on the president’s plan to nominate him, but he had previously pushed back against assertions that he was auditioning for the role following Bondi’s exit.
What To Watch For
Blanche’s nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate, where he faced questioning just weeks earlier over the DOJ’s decision to settle Trump’s case against the IRS. The now-defunct plan to establish a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of the settlement drew backlash from some GOP lawmakers, whose support Blanche will need to secure the nomination.
What Happened During Blanche’s Recent Senate Hearing?
At the hearing last month, Blanche vigorously defended the Justice Department’s decision to settle the IRS lawsuit. The acting attorney general faced several questions about the nearly $1.8 fund set aside to pay out purported victims of “lawfare and weaponization,” which critics argued was a means to enrich Trump’s allies and supporters—including January 6 rioters. Blanche said that the structure was “not unprecedented,” and the payouts would not be limited to Republicans and Trump’s allies. He also insisted that he was not “directed” by Trump to agree to the settlement. Earlier this week, Blanche told the House Appropriations subcommittee that the controversial fund has been killed off. According to several outlets he told the committee “we’re not moving forward with the fund, period.”
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