Trump to Nominate Acting AG Todd Blanche Permanently

The Justice Department's leadership now rests with a former personal lawyer to the president, a shift that carries direct consequences for ongoing investigations, settlements and Senate oversight. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday evening that he will formally nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the permanent post, ending weeks of uncertainty after Pam Bondi's April dismissal.

Trump made the statement in a video recorded at a White House Rose Garden Club Dinner and posted by Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino. "Tomorrow I'm instructing Dan and everybody else that's involved in that very complicated process, which is gonna go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent Attorney General," Trump said. He had signaled the same intent the previous day in an interview with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, telling her he had no other candidates under consideration and that Blanche had performed well in the acting role.

Blanche, 51, a Colorado native and Brooklyn Law School graduate, previously served as Trump's lead counsel in the New York hush-money case and two federal prosecutions brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Those cases ended after the 2024 election. He joined the Justice Department as deputy attorney general, won Senate confirmation last year on a 52-46 party-line vote, and took over as acting attorney general after Bondi departed. As acting head he oversaw creation of a proposed $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund tied to a settlement of Trump's IRS lawsuit, then withdrew the fund this week after bipartisan Senate opposition and a federal judge's temporary block. A separate settlement provision barring audits of Trump's prior returns remains in place.

Blanche has also faced scrutiny over indictments of former FBI Director James Comey, first announced in April on allegations that a social-media photo of seashells spelling "86 47" constituted a threat. Comey has called the case politically motivated. Blanche told NBC's Meet the Press and CBS News that career prosecutors and agents in North Carolina drove the case. He separately appointed former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova to examine whether former officials conspired to undermine Trump.

Confirmation by the current 53-47 Republican Senate majority is required. Blanche's earlier deputy confirmation drew no Democratic support, and several Republican senators had already expressed reservations about the withdrawn fund. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson described Blanche as an American patriot who fought lawfare on Trump's behalf and praised the department's focus on law and order. No other candidates have been named.