Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney general pick, faces senators in day one of confirmation hearing 

Todd Blanche faced a grilling from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in the first day of his high-stakes confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. attorney general, fielding pointed questions in a hearing set to reconvene Thursday.

Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and nominee to replace Pam Bondi, has faced intense scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers, as well as some Republicans, over his close ties to Trump and questions about his independence from the White House.

The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, over the weekend left Republicans with a razor-thin 11-10 majority on the committee, meaning just one Republican defector could stall Blanche’s nomination from advancing.

Two Republicans on the committee, Sens. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, have not committed to voting to confirm Blanche, in part over concerns about a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund intended to help victims of government lawfare. Critics have called it a “slush fund” that could be used to provide payouts to Jan. 6 rioters. Although the Justice Department has since scrapped the fund, Cornyn expressed concern during the hearing that it had not been formally terminated and could be revived.

Tillis, another critic of the fund, said he is ready to “stick a fork in it” and asked Blanche to commit to providing language formally eliminating it. Blanche agreed.

Several Republican lawmakers on the committee praised Blanche’s leadership as acting attorney general.

“Today, we consider you for promotion, and we’re not starting out from a blank slate. You have a track record,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee chairman, said, calling Blanche’s work a “record of success,” particularly on crime and efforts to crack down on illegal drugs.

Grassley then turned to Democrats’ criticism of Blanche, dismissing it as an endorsement.

“From my vantage point, if the people who engaged in the worst partisan lawfare this country has ever seen have a problem with Todd Blanche, that’s a good thing, in my book,” he said.

In response to questions from Republican senators, Blanche committed to pursuing sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, protecting the Second Amendment and affirmed that Trump is the “most pro-life president in history.”

Ahead of the hearing, Trump urged every Republican senator to vote to confirm Blanche.

“Under Todd’s incredible leadership at DOJ, murder is down to the LOWEST level since 1900, and we just saw the biggest one-year drop in RECORDED HISTORY. Violent crime arrests are UP 100%,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, while also touting Blanche’s work on religious liberty, free speech, election integrity and keeping men out of women’s sports. “He is tough, brilliant and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.”

Democrats used much of the hearing to press Blanche on his independence from Trump and his views of others within the administration.

Asked by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, whether the Justice Department is independent of the White House, Blanche said it “is part of the executive” but would “certainly operate with integrity.”

“If confirmed, I will be a member of the cabinet,” he said. “And President Trump can fire me whenever he wants.”

In a particularly heated exchange, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, questioned Blanche about FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership.

“How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character? Are you good with his airplane jaunts, are you confident he’s not drinking on the job? Are you sure none of his travel is pretext for vacation activities like snorkeling, the Olympics or visiting girlfriends? Are you sure he knows what he’s doing? Do you vouch for him? Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?”

“That is an extraordinarily obnoxious question, senator,” Blanche replied. “I have full faith in Director Patel and the work he’s doing every day.”

“Great, you get to own that,” Whitehouse replied.

Blanche maintained that the department’s work is not a partisan issue.

“Every senator here has constituents who just want to be safe,” he said. “We are keeping America safe, and we are just getting started.”

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