US Senate confirms Todd Blanche as AG after Republicans brush off politicization concerns

By AFP 8 August 2026, 12:29 pm

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US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meets with reporters as the US Justice Department announces the release of three million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure in Washington, January 30, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche is confirmed as US attorney general after Senate Republicans shrugged off Democratic concerns over the politicization of the US Justice Department.

Blanche, who has already been serving as the top US law enforcement officer in an acting capacity, represented Trump as his private attorney in several criminal trials before entering government. The Senate, which Republicans narrowly control, confirmed him by 50 votes to 49.

Blanche says he is “deeply honored” to be confirmed as attorney general.

“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General,” Blanche writes on X, also expressing thanks to the Senate and to “the dedicated public servants of the Department of Justice.”