Todd Blanche, the former Trump personal defense lawyer who has served as acting attorney general since April, cleared his Senate confirmation by a single vote early Saturday morning after days of suspense over whether Republican holdouts would sink the nomination.
The 50-49 result turned on a last-minute decision by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who announced Friday that he would back Blanche despite sharp criticism of the nominee's judgment on two of the most contentious issues surrounding the Department of Justice. Cassidy's vote broke a deadlock that had frozen the confirmation for days, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joining every Senate Democrat in opposition.
Blanche now permanently replaces Pam Bondi, whom President Trump fired on April 2, 2026. He had been elevated from deputy attorney general to acting AG the same day. The confirmation fight exposed real fractures inside the Republican conference over DOJ independence, a controversial anti-weaponization fund, and IRS audit protections for the president and his family.
Cassidy spent days refusing to tip his hand. When he finally spoke, he framed his vote not as an endorsement of Blanche's record but as a practical calculation about the alternative. Fox News reported that Cassidy delivered his rationale on the Senate floor Friday:
"The choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general, who may not run the department effectively under President Trump."
That reasoning carried the day, but Cassidy did not spare Blanche on substance. The New York Post reported that Cassidy faulted Blanche for "poor judgment" on both the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund and IRS audit exemptions shielding Trump and his family. Still, Cassidy concluded that a confirmed attorney general was better than an indefinite acting arrangement.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa took a less complicated view, casting the confirmation as a public-safety question:
"A vote for Todd Blanche is a vote for the safety of the American people."
The two Republican defections were not surprises by the time the vote arrived, but both senators laid out their objections in terms that went beyond the usual confirmation dissent. Murkowski zeroed in on the anti-weaponization fund, warning that the administration's willingness to shelve it was tactical, not principled.
"The fund is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage. Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds."
Murkowski also cast doubt on whether Blanche would serve as an independent check on the White House. She told colleagues she lacked confidence that Blanche would "check the worst impulses of this administration," as Breitbart reported.
Collins echoed concerns about DOJ politicization. Both senators cited the anti-weaponization fund and broader worries about the department's direction under Blanche's leadership. Their votes, combined with unified Democratic opposition, produced the narrowest possible margin for confirmation.
Behind the scenes, Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina worked to pull wavering colleagues toward a "yes" by extracting concessions from the Trump administration. National Review reported that the negotiations produced partial wins for holdouts, but critics noted the concessions were limited in both scope and durability.
The IRS settlement agreement shielding Trump and his family from audits remained unchanged, a sticking point that Cassidy flagged and that Murkowski cited as evidence the administration was not genuinely yielding ground. Cornyn, for his part, argued the pragmatic case for confirmation without pretending the deal was perfect:
"I think the DOJ needs Senate-confirmed leadership to prevent some of the chaos and dysfunction over there, and I think Blanche is as good as you're going to get."
That blunt assessment captured the mood among Republicans who voted yes: not enthusiasm for Blanche, but a belief that leaving the attorney general slot in acting status would produce worse outcomes.
Blanche's path to the nation's top law enforcement post is unusual by any measure. He served as Trump's personal defense attorney before joining the administration as deputy attorney general. When Trump fired Bondi in April, Blanche stepped into the acting role and has run the department for roughly four months.
That timeline meant senators were not voting on a hypothetical. They had months of Blanche's actual tenure to evaluate, including his handling of the Epstein files and the creation of the anti-weaponization fund. Both issues drew scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike during the confirmation process.
Just The News reported that the bipartisan nature of the opposition made the confirmation "notable," with two Republican senators breaking from their party to stand with Democrats against a Trump nominee for one of the most powerful positions in the federal government.
Blanche now holds the job with full Senate confirmation, which gives him legal authority that an acting attorney general lacks. He can sign off on policy changes, reorganizations, and enforcement priorities without the statutory time limits and legal vulnerabilities that shadow acting officials.
But the narrow margin guarantees continued oversight pressure. Murkowski's warning about the anti-weaponization fund was pointed: the Senate's leverage over the administration largely evaporates now that the confirmation vote is done. Whether the fund resurfaces, whether IRS audit protections remain in place, and whether Blanche operates the department independently from the White House are all questions that confirmation alone does not answer.
Investigators, prosecutors, and career DOJ staff now report to a confirmed attorney general who arrived at the department from the president's own legal defense team. The Senate decided, by one vote, that this arrangement is acceptable. The country will find out whether that bet pays off.
