WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, facing pointed questions about his time running the Justice Department in what amounts to a critical test of President Donald Trump’s ability to hold Republican support for his nominee.
Ahead of the hearing, Blanche released prepared remarks signaling he would tell lawmakers that he and his team are working to “restore trust” in the Justice Department — a direct response to Democratic accusations that he has turned the nation’s top law enforcement agency into a political weapon by targeting Trump’s perceived enemies.
Blanche, who previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney, has led the department on a temporary basis since April. During that stretch, he has pushed forward investigations into Trump’s political opponents, served as the public face of a controversial fund designed to compensate the president’s allies, and drawn sharp criticism from press freedom advocates over his aggressive crackdown on news media leaks.
In his opening statement, Blanche highlighted the Trump administration’s record on reducing violent crime, cutting off the flow of illegal drugs, going after dangerous cartels, and prosecuting those who have defrauded American taxpayers. The Justice Department under Trump has made immigration enforcement a top priority and launched a new division specifically focused on fraud in government-funded programs.
Sen. Ashley Moody pushed back against Democratic portrayals of Blanche as someone loyal only to Trump, pointing out that he began his career at the Justice Department as a paralegal. Moody also highlighted his years working with the Southern District of New York, saying, “He prosecuted drug traffickers and violent criminals,” and noted several awards and commendations he earned during that time.
The stakes could not be higher for Blanche. He needs every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote in his favor for his nomination to move forward. However, two of those Republicans — Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. John Cornyn — have not yet committed to backing him.
Tillis has been a vocal critic of a $1.776 billion fund the Trump administration established to compensate individuals who believe they were unjustly targeted by the criminal justice system — a fund that was later withdrawn. Both Tillis and Cornyn are expected to press Blanche on a separate piece of the settlement that shielded Trump and members of his family from tax audits.
The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin, opened his remarks by blasting the Justice Department’s conduct under Blanche, including the creation of the nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for presidential allies, the removal of department employees considered insufficiently loyal to Trump, and the way millions of investigative files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case have been handled.
Durbin accused Blanche of continuing to act as Trump’s personal lawyer rather than as an independent attorney general. “In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you’ve shown you’re still President Trump’s personal attorney,” Durbin said.
Blanche took over the department in April after Pam Bondi was dismissed following difficulties in building successful cases against Trump’s political adversaries. He is now seeking Senate confirmation to remain in the role for the remainder of Trump’s term.
