President Donald Trump announced on June 3, 2026, that he intends to nominate Todd Blanche, currently the Acting Attorney General, as the permanent US Attorney General [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Trump said the Senate confirmation process would begin June 4 and predicted it would move quickly, saying, "Tomorrow I'm instructing Dan [Scavino] and everybody else... which is gonna go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent Attorney General" [1, 6].
Blanche became Acting Attorney General in early April after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Before that, Blanche served as Bondi's deputy attorney general and oversaw the Justice Department's review and release of Jeffrey Epstein-related case files. Bondi testified on May 29 that she delegated oversight of the Epstein file release to Blanche, saying, "I did not lead every aspect of this effort nor conduct that document review myself. I delegated that oversight... to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche," who was "in charge" of the process [9, 10, 7].
Blanche defended the Justice Department amid bipartisan criticism over the Epstein files release. Critics cited concerns over incomplete documents, heavy redactions, and potential privacy violations [9, 10, 7]. He also defended a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" designed to compensate victims of alleged government overreach related to IRS tax information leaks. The fund faced strong bipartisan and Republican opposition and was suspended and eventually scrapped [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. Blanche said, "We're not moving forward with the fund, period" [1].
Blanche worked previously as Trump's personal lawyer. He defended Trump in multiple federal prosecutions, including those dropped after the 2024 election [1, 2, 5, 8]. He praised recent Justice Department achievements under his leadership, including arrests of drug smugglers and individuals supporting ISIS [8]. Blanche expressed gratitude for Trump's nomination, saying, "I'm honored and humbled that President Trump has asked me to become the permanent attorney general" [8]. He holds law degrees from American University and Brooklyn Law School and has a background in federal prosecution in the Southern District of New York [1, 2, 11].
The Senate holds a narrow Republican majority of 53-47, which may pose challenges for Blanche’s confirmation amid the upcoming midterm elections [2, 3, 4]. Thousands of federal prosecutors and FBI agents have left the Justice Department since Trump took office in January 2025 [2, 5].
Trump began instructing officials on June 4 to start the paperwork to formally nominate Blanche [4, 5, 6]. The Justice Department under Blanche also highlighted recent federal arrests, including dismantling a drug smuggling tunnel and indictments of ISIS supporters in early June 2026 [8].
