White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a video on Monday showing Todd Blanche being sworn in as attorney general in the Oval Office, formalizing his ascent to lead the Justice Department after a narrow Senate confirmation vote two days earlier.
Blanche took the oath of office with President Trump looking on, administered by Judge Emil Bove, who had served alongside Blanche on the president’s legal defense team before Bove was appointed to the federal bench. The swearing-in capped a contentious confirmation process that exposed deep partisan and intra-party divisions over the Justice Department’s independence.
The Senate confirmed Blanche in a 50-49 vote early Saturday morning, August 8, following a marathon overnight session as senators prepared to leave for their August recess. The narrow margin reflected weeks of uncertainty, with Democrats uniformly opposed and two Republicans—Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—breaking ranks to join the opposition.
Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since April 2026, following Pam Bondi’s ouster from the position. He was formally nominated to the attorney general role in June after nearly two years as deputy attorney general, a position he won Senate confirmation for in March 2025.
The confirmation fight centered on Republican concerns about Blanche’s role in establishing the Justice Department’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which was designed to provide payouts to people who alleged they were wronged by the federal government. Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina initially opposed Blanche’s nomination over the fund, but dropped their opposition after he issued an order rescinding the directive that created it.
The decisive vote came from Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who announced his support Friday in a brief Senate floor speech. “Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche,” Cassidy said, according to CBS News. “It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump.”
Blanche’s path to the top law enforcement post reflects his deep ties to Trump. He joined Trump’s legal defense team in 2023 after the president was indicted in connection with hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts in May 2024.
Before becoming a Trump confidant, Blanche had built a career in law. He earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and clerked for two federal judges in New York before working as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He later worked at law firms WilmerHale and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft before starting his own firm, Blanche Law, in 2023.
Sources
- CBS News — Blanche’s swearing-in ceremony, background, confirmation vote details, and Cassidy’s statement
- X (Twitter) — Karoline Leavitt’s post confirming Blanche’s swearing-in with video
- Reuters, AP News, PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, NBC News, NPR — Senate confirmation vote details and Republican opposition
