Todd Blanche has served as the acting Attorney General of the United States since April 2, 2026, when President Donald Trump removed Pam Bondi from the post and elevated Blanche from Deputy Attorney General. A former federal prosecutor who spent 2023 and 2024 as Trump’s personal defense lawyer, Blanche was formally nominated for the permanent job on June 8, 2026, and now faces a Senate confirmation fight shaped by three of his most contested decisions: a $1.776 billion settlement fund tied to a Trump lawsuit against the IRS, a signed agreement barring the IRS from auditing Trump and his family for past tax years, and criminal indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
How Blanche Got the Job
Blanche, 51, spent eight years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, rising to co-chief of the violent crimes unit, before moving into white-collar defense at WilmerHale and then Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He left Cadwalader in 2023 to lead Trump’s defense in the Manhattan hush-money case, which ended in Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.1The Guardian. Trump Nominates Todd Blanche Attorney General He also represented Trump in the two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith; both were dropped after Trump won the 2024 election.2PBS. What to Know About Todd Blanche, Trump’s Pick for Acting Attorney General Trump’s Save America PAC paid Blanche nearly $10 million in 2024 for his legal services.3CNBC. Todd Blanche Trump Nominates Attorney General
The Senate confirmed him as Deputy Attorney General on March 5, 2025, by a vote of 52 to 46, almost entirely along party lines.4U.S. Senate. Roll Call Vote 1055NPR. Trump Bondi Attorney General Departure6BBC. Epstein Files Transparency Act Her attempts to prosecute Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James had also collapsed in November 2025 when a federal judge ruled that the prosecutor who secured the indictments, Lindsey Halligan, had been illegally appointed.7WWLP. Federal Judge Tosses Indictment Against Letitia James
How Long He Can Serve Without Confirmation
Blanche’s authority in the acting role rests on one of two statutes, and legal scholars do not agree on which controls. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, an acting official can generally serve for 210 days, a window that in Blanche’s case would run out on October 29, 2026, and can be extended once the president submits a formal nomination. Trump did submit that nomination on June 8.8Politico. Todd Blanche Attorney General Justice Department
The alternative basis is the Attorney General Succession Act, which lets the Deputy Attorney General exercise all duties of the AG when the office is vacant. Stanford Law professor Anne Joseph O’Connell has argued that statute carries no time limit, meaning Blanche could theoretically serve out the rest of the term without confirmation, citing Julie Su’s nearly two-year run as Acting Labor Secretary. University of Michigan professor Nina Mendelson has argued the time limit should be read into the succession statute and warned of legal challenges similar to those filed against Matthew Whitaker during Trump’s first term.8Politico. Todd Blanche Attorney General Justice Department9Roll Call. Trump Could Keep an Acting Attorney General for Months
The Anti-Weaponization Fund and the IRS Deal
The single most contentious action of Blanche’s tenure is a settlement that resolved a $10 billion lawsuit Trump had filed against the IRS and Treasury Department over the leak of his tax returns. Trump and his co-plaintiffs, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, dropped the suit. In exchange, the Justice Department established a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” drawn from the federal Judgment Fund, to compensate people who claim they were improperly targeted by the government on political or ideological grounds. Trump received a formal apology but no direct damages.10U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Anti-Weaponization Fund11Time. Trump DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund IRS Lawsuit Settlement
The fund drew immediate objections when Blanche initially declined to rule out using it to compensate people convicted of crimes related to the January 6 Capitol attack.12Al Jazeera. Trump Nominates Todd Blanche as Attorney General Setting Up Senate Fight13NBC News. Judge Halts Trump Anti-Weaponization Fund3CNBC. Todd Blanche Trump Nominates Attorney General
On May 19, 2026, Blanche signed a one-page addendum to the settlement stipulating that the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing examinations of Trump, his family members, the Trump Organization, and affiliated individuals for any tax returns filed before May 18, 2026. The DOJ said the waiver covers only existing audits and not future ones. Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said he was “unaware of a single precedent” for such an agreement, and former Commissioner John Koskinen called it a “terrible precedent.”14Politico. Trump IRS Settlement Tax Returns U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Florida subsequently closed the underlying lawsuit.15NBC News. DOJ Agrees Not to Pursue Tax Claims Against Trump as Part of IRS Deal
The Comey and SPLC Indictments
On April 28, 2026, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted former FBI Director James Comey on two counts: threatening to kill or injure the president under 18 U.S.C. § 871, and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 875. The charges stem from an Instagram post in which Comey shared a photograph of seashells arranged to spell “86 47.” The Justice Department called the post “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President.”16NBC News. James Comey Indicted Over Seashell Photo Officials Said Threatened Trump On Meet the Press in May 2026, Blanche said the case “looks beyond” the single post.17NBC News. Acting AG Todd Blanche Says Comey Indictment Looks Beyond a Single Instagram Post Comey has stated he is innocent, and his attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said the defense will “contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment.” Trial before U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan is set for October 21, 2026.18The Conversation. James Comey’s Instagram Seashell Post Sits in a Murky Legal Zone
On April 21, 2026, Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced that a federal grand jury in Alabama had indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts: six of wire fraud, four of making false statements to a federally insured bank, and one of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The government alleged that from 2014 to 2023, the SPLC funneled more than $3 million in donor funds to individuals affiliated with extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Party, while publicly condemning those organizations. Blanche said the group was “not dismantling extremism, but funding it.”19U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Grand Jury Charges Southern Poverty Law Center20The New York Times. Southern Poverty Law Center DOJ Investigation The SPLC pleaded not guilty on May 7, 2026. Its attorney, Abbe Lowell, called the charges “provably wrong” and “political in nature,” and interim CEO Bryan Fair said the federal government was “weaponizing” the legal system.21Courthouse News. SPLC Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Financial Crimes22Politico. Southern Poverty Law Center Justice Department Investigation The defense filed a motion to dismiss on vindictive prosecution grounds, and trial before U.S. District Judge Emily Coody Marks in the Middle District of Alabama is scheduled for October 5, 2026.23Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. United States v. Southern Poverty Law Center
Epstein Files and the Maxwell Transfer
Blanche inherited the DOJ’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. By the time he became Acting AG, the department had published roughly 3.5 million pages of responsive documents, but lawmakers noted that more than 6 million pages had been identified as potentially responsive, and more than 200,000 pages of what was released had been redacted or withheld.24Roll Call. Lawmakers Pursue Full Compliance With Epstein Transparency Law Critics, including Epstein survivors, accused the department of over-protecting potential co-conspirators while failing to adequately redact victims’ identities.25Roll Call. Blanche Heads Into Attorney General Confirmation Clash
A separate strand involves Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. In July 2025, while still Deputy AG, Blanche personally interviewed Maxwell. Overnight between July 31 and August 1, 2025, she was moved from a low-security prison in Tallahassee to Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a minimum-security facility in Texas. Bureau of Prisons policy generally bars convicted sex offenders from minimum-security camps.26NBC News. Ghislaine Maxwell Moved Federal Prison Texas Blanche defended the transfer as prompted by “numerous threats against her life” at the Florida facility.27Politico. Todd Blanche Defends Moving Ghislaine Maxwell Senators have pressed him on whether the move was connected to Maxwell’s statement that Trump committed no wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.12Al Jazeera. Trump Nominates Todd Blanche as Attorney General Setting Up Senate Fight
A New Fraud Enforcement Division
Not every action has broken along partisan lines. On April 7, 2026, Blanche announced the formal rollout of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, consolidating the Health Care Fraud Unit, the Market, Consumer, and Government Fraud Unit, and the Criminal Tax Section under a single roof. The division is led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald and paired with a National Fraud Detection Center, a data-analytics team focused on identifying actors defrauding federal programs. Blanche said the department would “spare no resources” to investigate and prosecute those who steal taxpayer dollars.28Sidley Austin. White House and DOJ Announce Sweeping New Anti-Fraud Initiatives
The Confirmation Fight
Trump submitted Blanche’s nomination for the permanent Attorney General position to the Senate on June 8, 2026.29White House. Nomination Sent to the Senate Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley called Blanche “well-qualified” and praised his “dedication to restoring law and order.”30The Hill. Trump Nominates Todd Blanche Attorney General Senate Majority Leader John Thune was more cautious, saying “nothing’s a safe or sure bet these days” and that Blanche’s fate would depend on his performance before the committee.31The Hill. Blanche Senate Confirmation Concerns
Democrats have unified against him. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Blanche “Trump’s fixer, bagman, hired gun” and pledged to fight the confirmation “with everything we have.”32Senate Democrats. Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Opposing the Nomination of Todd Blanche Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on Judiciary, said Trump “has been engaged in the most corrupt enterprise in the history of the Presidency” and that “Todd Blanche apparently has not noticed.”33Senate Judiciary Committee. Durbin Enters Statement on Trump Nominating Todd Blanche
The harder math for Blanche is on the Republican side, because he must secure every Republican vote on the Judiciary Committee to advance to the full Senate floor. Senator John Cornyn has said he will not commit until Blanche testifies. Senator John Kennedy said Blanche’s credibility is “squarely on the line.” Senator Thom Tillis has identified Blanche’s willingness to condemn the January 6 violence against law enforcement as a “circuit breaker” for his vote. Senator Lisa Murkowski has demanded formal answers about both the anti-weaponization fund and the IRS audit agreement. As of mid-June 2026, no hearing date had been set.31The Hill. Blanche Senate Confirmation Concerns25Roll Call. Blanche Heads Into Attorney General Confirmation Clash