The U.S. Senate confirmed Todd Blanche, former personal attorney to Donald Trump, as attorney general early on Saturday morning, August 8, 2026, by a vote of 50 to 49. The confirmation has sparked strong criticism from Senate Democrats.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer condemned Senate Republicans for the confirmation, stating they have “handed Trump an excuse on a silver platter” to continue what he described as Trump’s “pervasive, breathtaking misconduct.” Schumer wrote on X that “if you want to wipe out corruption, you can’t have the president’s personal attorney as the attorney general,” adding that Blanche has no intention of stopping Trump’s misconduct. He also affirmed that Senate Democrats will continue to resist what they call the Trump administration’s “assault on the rule of law and undermining of democratic values.”

New Mexico Democratic representative Melanie Stansbury echoed Schumer’s concerns, calling Blanche’s confirmation a “dark moment” for the nation’s traditional system of checks and balances. Stansbury said in a radio interview, “I’ve got to be convinced that he is an attorney general who just happens to have once been President Trump’s personal attorney, as opposed to President Trump’s personal attorney who is now the attorney general. I think there’s a big difference between the two.”

During his previous roles as deputy attorney general and acting attorney general, Blanche’s department indicted former FBI director James Comey twice, New York attorney general Letitia James, and the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center, though experts have described these cases as thin.

Meanwhile, Senate majority leader John Thune, Trump, and Senate conservatives agreed to postpone a vote on a budget resolution and defer action on a significant portion of the SAVE America Act until after the upcoming break.

Sources