US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, has been narrowly confirmed as the United States attorney general, the nation's top law enforcement official, following a closely contested Senate vote on Saturday, August 8th, 2026.

Blanche won confirmation by a 50-49 vote, with two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, joining all Democrats in opposing his nomination. Senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote in favor of Blanche, a decision closely watched in Washington due to Cassidy's previous acrimony with Trump and his 2021 vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment over the January 6 Capitol riot.

The confirmation ends a prolonged standoff between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration. Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since April 2026.

Concerns raised by some Republican senators included Blanche's handling of the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and his role in establishing Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponisation" fund. This fund was intended to compensate individuals alleging government persecution, but critics, including Murkowski, feared it might benefit those prosecuted for participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress. Following pushback during confirmation hearings, Blanche pledged to walk back the fund.

Collins also expressed reservations about Blanche's involvement in settling Trump's $10 billion lawsuit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but ultimately trusted him to provide candid legal advice to the president.

After the vote, Blanche said he was "deeply honoured by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me."

Sources