Todd Blanche’s AG Bid Turns DOJ Fights Into a Senate Test

Last updated: June 10, 2026, 8:34 a.m. ET

Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general and former criminal defense lawyer, is headed toward a Senate confirmation fight in Washington after Trump moved to make him the permanent head of the Justice Department in June 2026. The nomination immediately puts Blanche’s record at DOJ under a harsher light, especially his role in a disputed compensation fund and politically charged investigations.

The stakes are bigger than one cabinet seat. The fight asks whether Republican senators who already pushed back on one Blanche-backed policy are willing to challenge Trump on the person now chosen to run federal law enforcement full time.

The Full Story

Trump announced plans to nominate Blanche after Pam Bondi left the attorney general’s office in April, according to multiple reports. Blanche had already been serving as acting attorney general, after working as deputy attorney general and previously as Trump’s lead criminal defense lawyer in several cases, including the New York hush money case and cases brought by former special counsel Jack Smith.

That résumé is exactly why the confirmation fight is unusually loaded. Supporters point to Blanche’s former federal prosecutor background and his public focus on crime, fentanyl trafficking, prison funding and recent arrests. Critics point to his proximity to Trump and a Justice Department record they describe as too closely aligned with the president’s personal and political interests.

One flashpoint is the nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization compensation fund. Fox News reported that Blanche said DOJ would not move forward with the fund after legal challenges and a court ruling temporarily blocking it. At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, he said, the administration was dropping the fund: "We're not moving forward with the fund, period."

The fund grew out of a settlement tied to President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, after Trump, family members and the Trump Organization agreed to forgo monetary damages connected to the release of their tax returns. The New York Times reported that Blanche had signed an order creating the fund and later withdrew it after rare resistance from Senate Republicans who viewed the plan as an ethical, legal and political problem.

There is also the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. MS NOW reported that U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed charges against Abrego as unconstitutionally vindictive, after the government had illegally sent him to El Salvador in violation of a court order and later secured his return. In the judge’s May 22 ruling, Crenshaw wrote that "Absent Blanche’s tainted investigation," Abrego’s indictment would not have happened, according to the article.

The Main Players

Todd Blanche is the nominee at the center of the fight. He is currently acting attorney general and previously served as Trump’s lead criminal defense attorney. Blanche has defended his work publicly, saying the department is carrying out Trump’s public safety priorities.

Donald Trump is the president who chose Blanche for the permanent attorney general role. The nomination ties the Justice Department’s future direction directly to Trump’s second-term approach to executive power and federal prosecutions.

Pam Bondi is the former attorney general whose April departure opened the acting role for Blanche. Fox News reported that Bondi had faced criticism from some conservatives over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Senate Republicans may decide whether this nomination becomes a routine party-line confirmation or a more serious test of independence. The Washington Post described the fight as a summer battle that will test whether a handful of increasingly restive Republicans are prepared to defy Trump on a high-profile nominee.

Key Statistics

The numbers in this story help explain why Blanche’s nomination is not just a personnel move. The proposed compensation fund was reported at nearly $1.8 billion, while Slate’s account discussed a $1.776 billion settlement figure and a broader civil release connected to Trump, his family and his companies.

Those figures matter because the fund was not a small internal DOJ program. It was large enough to draw legal challenges, court scrutiny and public resistance from senators in Trump’s own party.

Blanche is also 51, according to The New York Times, and his rise has been fast: from Trump’s defense table, to Justice Department No. 2, to acting attorney general, and now nominee for the permanent job.

What This Means

For Americans, the attorney general is not an abstract Washington title. The person in that seat helps steer federal prosecutions, civil rights enforcement, immigration-related litigation, national security cases and the department’s posture toward the White House.

That is why Blanche’s confirmation hearings could become a public accounting of the Justice Department’s conduct under Trump. Senators can ask about the fund, the tax settlement, the Abrego case, public comments about ongoing investigations, and how Blanche defines lawful presidential direction inside DOJ.

The deeper issue is cause and effect. Blanche’s defenders can argue that he is pursuing the president’s law enforcement agenda. His critics argue that his record shows the danger of placing a president’s former personal lawyer in charge of decisions that are supposed to be made for the public, not for one client.

What to Expect

The next confirmed step is the Senate confirmation process. The Washington Post reported that Blanche faces confirmation hurdles this summer, and the hearing will likely center on whether he can show enough independence from Trump to satisfy senators who were already uneasy with the compensation fund.

Blanche has tried to frame his work around public safety. In a Fox News interview, he said DOJ is executing Trump’s priorities on making the country safe and added, "I'm honored and humbled that President Trump has asked me to become the permanent attorney general."