The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as Attorney General 50-49 early Saturday, with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) providing the deciding vote after three days of holdout negotiations. All 47 Democrats, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted no. Blanche, Trump's personal defense attorney through his 2024 criminal trials, becomes the first AG confirmed after serving as the sitting president's private lawyer. As acting AG since January, he had already canceled a $1.8B anti-weaponization fund payout.
1
Vote Breakdown
Cassidy's three conditions: written assurance Blanche won't interfere with 2026 election prosecutions, a commitment to preserve FBI structural independence, and a list of closed investigations. Blanche delivered written responses August 7; Cassidy announced support within hours. Murkowski voted no, citing Blanche's January 6 defense work as incompatible with DOJ independence. At 50-49, no VP tiebreaker was needed.
2
Actions as Acting AG
As acting AG, Blanche canceled a $1.8B anti-weaponization payout, restructured FBI counterintelligence units, and dropped investigations into several Trump allies. CNN reported the White House was directly involved in drafting the fund cancellation order — the most documented White House DOJ intervention in two decades. Nine internal ethics complaints were filed by DOJ career attorneys, per the Washington Post.
3
What Comes Next
With confirmed status, Blanche is expected to advance federal preemption suits against Democratic AGs under the anti-sanctuary framework, relaunch Operation Falcon targeting criminal alien networks, and reassess whether to withdraw from the DOJ's ad-tech divestiture order against Google. The Google question is the highest-dollar decision — the existing order covers a potential $25B business unit breakup.
Cassidy's written assurances carry no statutory weight. But Blanche is confirmed — Trump's first fully confirmed DOJ leader in 18 months.
Sources
- ✓ NPR — Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general — 2026-08-08
- ✓ Washington Post — Senate narrowly approves Todd Blanche as AG — 2026-08-08
- ✓ Roll Call — Todd Blanche confirmed by Senate as attorney general — 2026-08-08
- ✓ CNBC — Cassidy supports Todd Blanche, rescuing Trump's embattled AG pick — 2026-08-07
#BlancheAG#DOJ#TrumpAdministration