On Saturday morning, August 8th, 2026, the US Senate confirmed Todd Blanche, former defense lawyer for Donald Trump, as attorney general by a vote of 50 to 49. This confirmation was part of a broader resolution pushed through by Senate Republicans before dawn, which approved 71 of Trump’s nominees for various federal roles including ambassadors, US attorneys, judges, and senior agency staff.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized the confirmation, stating that Senate Republicans have “handed Trump an excuse on a silver platter” to continue what he described as “pervasive, breathtaking misconduct.” Schumer emphasized 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 alleged misconduct. He also pledged that Senate Democrats will continue to resist what he called the Trump administration’s “assault on the rule of law and undermining of democratic values.”

During the 2019 impeachment inquiry into Trump’s pressure campaign against Ukraine, Fiona Hill, the National Security Council’s Russia expert during Trump’s first term, testified that an official named Griffith was present at a July 2019 meeting where John Bolton, then national security adviser, discovered that other US officials had secretly pressed Ukraine to open a sham investigation of Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg called for unity among Democrats during a rally in Michigan, a key swing state, highlighting the high stakes of upcoming elections. He said, “Wherever you sit, in this big tent of ours... there is a set of things... where we agree with each other, we agree with most Michiganders, and Washington and Lansing Republicans disagree with us. That’s what’s at stake right now, and it’s not all about left, right and center, Democrat and Republican.”

On the fiscal front, the government faces a potential shutdown after September 30th if new funding is not approved. Susan Collins, chair of the Republican Senate appropriations committee, described the continuing resolution as “a major step toward averting a damaging shutdown that only harms vital programs and federal workers,” noting it does not make major changes to funding levels.

Sources