WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to face tough questions Wednesday at a Senate confirmation hearing that will put President Donald Trump’s hold on Republican lawmakers to the test. Blanche needs those votes to secure a permanent role leading the Justice Department.
Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, has been running the department on a temporary basis since April. During that time, he ramped up investigations targeting Trump’s political opponents, became the public face of a controversial fund designed to compensate the president’s allies, and drew criticism from press freedom advocates for aggressively pursuing news media leaks.
All of those decisions will come under the microscope at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where Blanche is seeking confirmation to serve through the remainder of Trump’s term.
The confirmation battle carries significant weight. Mass firings and resignations have gutted the department’s workforce, and Democrats and other critics argue the Justice Department has been turned into a political weapon against the president’s enemies. More than 1,200 former department employees have publicly come out against Blanche’s nomination.
Democrats on the committee are widely expected to vote unanimously against Blanche, meaning he must secure support from every Republican on the panel for his nomination to move forward.
Two Republican senators are drawing particular attention: Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who lost his primary in May and has said he will wait until after the hearing before deciding on Blanche, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who chose not to seek reelection. Tillis has been a vocal critic of a $1.776 billion fund the Trump administration created to compensate people who believe they were unjustly targeted by the criminal justice system — a fund that was later pulled.
Tillis previously stated he would not back any attorney general nominee who hedges on the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, when supporters of Trump stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Trump’s election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. However, Tillis recently indicated he has no concerns about Blanche’s record on that day.
With the death of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel now stands at 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. A single Republican defection could sink Blanche’s nomination.
The $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund has been a particularly thorny issue for Blanche. He initially defended the fund during congressional appearances, only to later announce it was being abandoned — all while resisting pressure to put that assurance in writing. The reversal came after strong bipartisan pushback that boiled over during a heated private meeting with lawmakers.
The fund came out of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. The Florida judge overseeing the case issued a sharp ruling, saying Trump and his attorneys had manipulated the court system by filing the lawsuit. Judge Kathleen Williams said Monday she was troubled by Blanche’s role in the settlement, particularly given his prior work as Trump’s personal lawyer.
