{"id":22784,"date":"2026-07-31T05:42:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22784"},"modified":"2026-07-31T05:42:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:42:42","slug":"todd-blanche-confirmation-why-trumps-attorney-general-nominee-is-struggling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22784","title":{"rendered":"Todd Blanche confirmation: Why Trump\u2019s attorney general nominee is struggling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><em>This story appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-logoff-newsletter-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Logoff<\/a>, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/pages\/logoff-newsletter-trump-administration-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Subscribe here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Welcome to The Logoff:<\/strong> Donald Trump\u2019s attorney general nominee is in trouble.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What\u2019s happening?<\/strong> Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump nominated for the permanent job last month, was set to receive a committee vote on Thursday on his way to being confirmed. Instead, lawmakers are punting on the vote after multiple key Republican senators expressed concerns \u2014 and Trump is now threatening to pull Blanche\u2019s nomination until next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Why are senators worried about Blanche?<\/strong> Nearly all of Trump\u2019s nominees \u2014 even his most controversial picks, like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth \u2014 have been confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But Blanche, who is also Trump\u2019s former personal lawyer, has a track record as acting attorney general, where he\u2019s primarily distinguished himself by his unflinching devotion to Trump\u2019s personal priorities: things like indicting former FBI director James Comey, creating a vast $1.8 billion slush fund to reward Trump\u2019s allies, and immunizing the president and his family from scrutiny by the IRS via an unusual settlement deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Not all of those schemes have gone well; the slush fund, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-logoff-newsletter-trump\/490543\/trump-anti-weaponization-slush-fund-doj-settlement\">went down in flames<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The IRS shield, however, is still kicking, and Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) \u2014 both of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee \u2014 are pushing Blanche to commit to changes to the settlement before they will support his nomination. So far, that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What happens if Blanche\u2019s nomination fails?<\/strong> It\u2019s a black eye for Trump and a sign that the GOP, facing an increasingly dire midterms outlook, is growing less willing to go along with Trump\u2019s increasingly conspicuous corruption. But a defeated vote or a pulled nomination won\u2019t actually end Blanche\u2019s tenure as acting attorney general \u2014 since he was previously confirmed by the Senate for the <em>deputy<\/em> attorney general job, he can likely stay in the acting role <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawfaremedia.org\/article\/the-unbearable-lightness-of-a-todd-blanche-confirmation-fight\">as long as Trump wants to keep him there<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">And with that, it\u2019s time to log off\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/2026\/08\/rome-elite-tourism-imago-artis\/687621\/\">This story from the Atlantic<\/a>, about a \u201ctourism fixer\u201d in Rome for whom just about any experience is in reach, was a great read (click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/2026\/08\/rome-elite-tourism-imago-artis\/687621\/?gift=l-COLasdRKc2g8P6_vfmMuJISxwFn15jqZQhklbQ7WY&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share\">here<\/a> for a gift link).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">As always, have a great evening, and we\u2019ll see you back here tomorrow!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump\u2019s attorney general nominee is in trouble. What\u2019s happening? Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump nominated for the permanent job last&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/gettyimages-2286244387.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.75214828329%2C100%2C78.49570343342&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}