Todd Blanche 'honoured and humbled' as Trump says he'll nominate him as US Attorney General

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would move to nominate Todd Blanche, the acting US Attorney General, to permanently lead the Justice Department. This would make Trump's former personal lawyer the US'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. Reacting to news that President Trump intends to formally nominate him to the job full-time, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, "Obviously, I'm honoured and humbled that the president indicated he was going to nominate me.” “I will work with the senators. I have a good relationship with the Senate, both sides. I don't say no to phone calls. I'll meet with anybody that wants to meet with me," Blanche said, as per a video shared by Fox News on Thursday. To be confirmed, Blanche would need near-unanimous Republican support in the Senate, which Republicans control by a narrow 53-47 margin. It's likely to set up a potentially contentious Senate confirmation battle over his Justice Department agenda The Senate is "not a very happy place" for Trump after he's "fallen out very hard" with a series of GOP senators, Politico Playbook managing editor Jack Blanchard said in a podcast. Blanche, 51, took over leadership of the Justice Department after Trump fired 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, Reuters reported. Blanche represented Trump during the New York criminal trial that resulted in 34 felony convictions. Blanche moved quickly as acting attorney general to ingratiate himself to Trump and his political movement. The DOJ under Blanche removed press releases detailing cases arising from the January 6, 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 longtime Trump foe. Blanche faced backlash from Republican senators, and even some White House aides, over the Justice Department's now-scuttled plan to create a $1.8 billion fund for victims of alleged government "weaponisation." He said on Tuesday that the DOJ would not be moving forward with the plan, which 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, saying, “I'd have to ask the lawyers. I don't know.” "I love it. I think it's so important," Trump told reporters at the White House. "The weaponisation fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing." 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 into writing. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he was likely to nominate Blanche to the permanent position. For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. 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