US Domestic — 2026-08-09

Senate Confirms Todd Blanche as Attorney General in Narrow Overnight Vote

BLUFBlanche's confirmation converts months of acting-authority DOJ reshaping into permanent institutional fact, while the paper assurances that bought Senate votes bind no one with enforcement power.

The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general 50-49 after 4 a.m. Saturday, with Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining all Democrats in opposition 1234. The nomination had stalled over the Justice Department's $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund tied to a Trump-IRS settlement, until Blanche provided written assurances on August 2 rescinding the fund and narrowing tax-audit protections for Trump and his family 123. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana supplied the decisive vote Friday after receiving those assurances, while Murkowski said she lacked confidence Blanche would check "the worst impulses" of the administration 234. Blanche, Trump's former personal defense attorney, has served as acting attorney general since April, when Trump removed Pam Bondi 13.

Analysis
Blanche's confirmation removes the last formal check on Justice Department leadership independent of Trump, cementing a department already reshaped around retribution priorities during his months as acting attorney general; Cassidy's, Cornyn's, and Tillis's votes rested on written assurances rescinding the Anti-Weaponization Fund and narrowing tax-audit immunity, but neither document carries Trump's signature, leaving both reversible without further Senate input. The reporting is drawn from primary, converging accounts across four outlets, though the rescission may instead function as face-saving cover rather than durable constraint, since the same unsigned channel that created the fund could revive it. Confirmation landed roughly seven weeks ahead of the September 30 floor projected in June, and prosecutions against Comey and the SPLC, along with the Epstein-files fallout, now proceed under a permanently confirmed rather than acting attorney general.

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