US president Donald Trump said he would move to nominate acting US attorney general Todd Blanche on Thursday to permanently lead the justice department, which would make his former personal lawyer the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
“He’s acting attorney general. Tomorrow. I’m instructing Dan [Scavino] and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process – which is going to go, I think, very quickly – that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said at a White House event, according to a video posted on X late on Wednesday by his aide Scavino.
Blanche (51), took over the leadership of the justice department after Trump dismissed Pam Bondi in April amid tension over the agency’s release of files related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and frustration that the department was not moving forcefully enough against the White House’s supposed political enemies.
Blanche has faced backlash from Republican senators, and even some White House aides, over the department’s now-scuttled plan to create a $1.8 billion fund for victims of alleged government “weaponisation” during Joe Biden’s presidency.
RM Block
To be confirmed, Blanche would need near-unanimous Republican support in the Senate, which Republicans control by a narrow 53-47 margin. He said on Tuesday that the department would not be moving forward with the plan, which had sparked fierce bipartisan opposition and threatened to derail a $72 billion funding package for Trump’s immigration crackdown.
But Trump on Wednesday would not say whether the fund had been terminated or was on hold.
Some lawmakers have called for a ban on the fund to be documented in writing or codified into law. Blanche told members of Congress this week that he would not commit to putting anything in writing. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he was likely to nominate Blanche to the permanent position.
Blanche has moved quickly as acting attorney general to ingratiate himself to Trump and his political movement.
In addition to the fund, the department of justice under Blanche has removed press releases detailing cases arising from the January 6th, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, released a report condemning past prosecutions of anti-abortion activists and secured criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights group and former FBI director James Comey, a long-time Trump foe. – Reuters
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