Blanche Appears on Glidepath to Confirmation After Key GOP Senators Signal Support

The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, appears closer to confirmation to take his post officially after his nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Despite being pressed on the handling of the Epstein files, the pardons for the January 6 rioters, and the independence of the Justice Department, Mr. Blanche seems to have won over the necessary GOP votes to take over as the permanent attorney general. Mr. Blanche was nominated to lead the Justice Department earlier this year after his boss, Attorney General Pam Bondi, was dismissed. He has been leading the department in an acting capacity after serving as the deputy attorney general, a post he took at the beginning of this second Trump administration. Prior to that, he represented President Trump as his personal attorney.In his opening remarks, Mr. Blanche said his main goal as the attorney general will be “restoring” trust in the DOJ as an institution. “In recent years, Americans watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Mr. Blanche said. “We are fixing that.”Democrats were eager to see if Mr. Blanche was committed to that by asking him if he truly would be independent from the White House and from Mr. Trump.“Do you believe it is the president’s right and duty to order the investigation or prosecution of his perceived enemies, yes or no?” Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat, asked. “I can’t answer that question yes or no,” he responded. “As the president of the United States under Article II, he’s in charge of the Department of Justice, so my answer reflects that idea — not that he has a right to go after his political enemies.”With the death of Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Blanche will need the support of every single Republican on the panel in order to make it to the next round of the confirmation process. Given Graham died on Saturday night, Republicans have not yet had the opportunity to fill his seat, meaning there are now 11 GOP members of the committee to Democrats’ 10. The two Republicans many observers were watching on Wednesday are Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis — two men who have had their political careers effectively ended by Mr. Trump. Mr. Cornyn lost his primary for another term in the Senate back in May to a Trump-backed challenger while Mr. Tillis opted for retirement last year after Mr. Trump said he would search out a primary challenger for the North Carolina senator. Mr. Cornyn spent his time focusing on Mr. Blanche’s role in establishing a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” which was to be used to pay people who believed they had been unfairly targeted by federal investigations during the Biden administration. Mr. Blanche has since said that the fund is dead, though the president has continued to say that he loves the idea of it. As Mr. Cornyn sought answers about the fund, Mr. Blanche clarified that he would be willing to work with Democrats and Republicans in an effort at “codifying,” seemingly through legislation, that no weaponization fund will be created.“But just to be clear: the president of the United States, who is the plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the weaponization fund and there’s no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs might raise that issue by way of a lawsuit — a breach of contract lawsuit — in the future?” Mr. Cornyn asked. “The plaintiffs have no power over the fund,” Mr. Blanche responded. After the hearing, Mr. Cornyn reiterated that he has not made a final decision on Mr. Blanche’s nomination, though he seemed to imply that his concerns could be assuaged over the coming days. “I continue to have some concerns, but I’m not going to make any decisions at this point,” Mr. Cornyn told reporters after he questioned Mr. Blanche. Mr. Tillis, who has said his main issue with any attorney general nominee would be defending the actions of January 6, 2021, in any way, would be his red line. He asked Mr. Blanche if he thought what happened that day was heinous, to which Mr. Blanche responded to say that, yes, it was. Mr. Tillis went on to go after his Democratic colleagues for what he called hypocrisy, arguing that President Biden used the Justice Department to go after political enemies, as well. Two GOP senators had other concerns to raise, however. Senators Katie Britt and Josh Hawley — both staunch opponents of abortion rights — asked Mr. Blanche if he would try to crack down on access to mifepristone, the abortion pill drug used to stop early-stage pregnancies. The Trump administration is currently reviewing the safety of the drug, though no decision has been made as of yet. Mr. Blanche told both Ms. Britt and Mr. Hawley that he would continue to work on restricting access to mifepristone. “I’ve seen video myself of what appears to be pills coming from overseas to young women. It doesn’t matter who applies for it. Anyone can get it. There’s no instructions. They just come dumped out of a little plastic bag and it’s wrong,” Mr. Blanche told senators. “I very much commit our resources to stopping this.”

Blanche Appears on Glidepath to Confirmation After Key GOP Senators Signal Support

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