Blanche faces Senate GOP doubts as attorney general confirmation hangs in balance
One Republican no vote could sink Todd Blanche before the full Senate, with Cornyn still uneasy as Epstein and Trump-loyalty questions shadow his attorney general bid.
A single Republican no vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee threatened to block Todd Blanche from reaching the full Senate, putting his bid to become attorney general in immediate jeopardy. Blanche’s two-day confirmation hearing opened Wednesday in Hart Senate Office Building Room 216 and was set to continue Thursday, with Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley saying, “I want to welcome everyone this morning as we consider Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as the 88th Attorney General of the United States.”
Blanche entered the hearing as acting attorney general and as a former member of Donald Trump’s criminal defense team, a background that has made him one of the most politically sensitive nominees of the Trump administration. He had already won Senate confirmation last year as deputy attorney general, making this his second run through the committee. The stakes were unusually narrow: because the Judiciary Committee is tightly divided, one Republican defection could keep Blanche from advancing at all.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas emerged as the most closely watched Republican vote after the questioning ended, saying he still had concerns and had not committed to supporting Blanche. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also loomed as a possible spoiler after earlier indications that he had not crossed one of his red lines on support for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. If either man broke ranks, Blanche’s path would become far harder before the nomination ever reached the floor.
The hearing centered on the issues that have made Blanche a difficult sell even to some Republicans. Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin pressed him on whether he would place the Constitution ahead of Trump’s interests. They also questioned him about whether he discussed pardon or clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell during a prison interview and about the Justice Department’s release of Epstein-related material that exposed personal information belonging to survivors.
Blanche apologized to Epstein survivors for the failure to properly redact that information, but the episode had already deepened doubts about his stewardship of the Justice Department. He also tried to put distance between himself and a separate internal fight over a $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which drew bipartisan criticism as a possible slush fund. Blanche said the fund was “not moving forward.” That left the nomination balanced between a narrow committee math problem and a broader political question: whether Senate Republicans were willing to hand permanent control of the Justice Department to one of Trump’s most loyal lawyers.
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