Trump to nominate Blanche for attorney general on permanent basis
US President Donald Trump has said he will nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to take on the role permanently.
If confirmed by the Senate, Trump's former personal lawyer will become the administration's number one prosecutor on a continuing basis. The US attorney general is the top law enforcement position at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Blanche took on the interim role shortly after Trump removed Pam Bondi in April.
A loyal Trump ally, Blanche defended the president in a range of cases, including his federal prosecution for allegedly withholding classified documents after his first term.
A video posted late on Wednesday by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino recorded Trump saying he would nominate Blanche "tomorrow", adding that he thought the Senate confirmation process would go "very quickly".
Earlier this week, Trump praised Blanche on the Pod Force One podcast: "He's a very talented guy. Todd's doing a very good job at DOJ."
Blanche has in recent weeks been at the centre of the DOJ's attempt to establish an "anti-weaponisation fund" to provide $1.8bn (£1.3bn) to people allegedly harmed by government overreach.
Some Republican lawmakers joined opposition Democrats in opposing the fund. And there was a further setback for Blanche when a federal judge ruled that the plan should be suspended to allow a legal challenge to move forward.
Testifying to lawmakers on Tuesday, Blanche confirmed that the idea had been scrapped: "We're not moving forward with the fund, period."
Prior to joining the president's second administration, Blanche was Trump's personal lawyer.
He defended Trump in a range of cases. These included his federal prosecution for allegedly withholding classified documents after his first presidency, and over alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Both of those cases were dropped after Trump won the 2024 election, as it is DOJ policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
Blanche, 51, was born in Colorado and earned his bachelor's degree from American University in Washington DC. He went on to obtain a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2003.
Much of his legal career was spent as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York before briefly going into private practice at law firms Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
As deputy attorney general, Blanche was involved alongside Bondi in the DOJ's release of documents related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In July, he interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein serving a 20-year prison sentence.
He also served as the acting Librarian of Congress.
Blanche's ascent to the top job at the DOJ on an interim basis came after his predecessor Bondi left the department at the beginning of April.
At the time, Blanche denied media reports that Bondi's handling of the Epstein files had been a factor in Trump's decision to remove her.
Bondi recently said she is set to join the White House's new advisory council on AI, the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
<small>Source: BBC News</small>
