Trump to Nominate Acting AG Todd Blanche to Permanent Role
A permanent nomination would require Senate confirmation, giving lawmakers their first formal opportunity to scrutinize Blanche's tenure as both Trump's former defense attorney and the...
President Donald Trump intends to nominate Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General on a permanent basis, according to multiple sources cited by CBS News and ABC News on June 4, 2026. Trump reportedly announced the intent during a private dinner, per two sources described by ABC News as familiar with the matter. Blanche has been serving in an acting capacity, a role that does not require Senate confirmation under the Vacancies Reform Act (5 U.S.C. § 3345).
Blanche previously served as Trump's personal criminal defense attorney across multiple federal proceedings, including the 2024 New York hush-money trial in which Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — a verdict Trump has appealed. Blanche's representation of Trump before assuming the acting AG role is a matter of public court record in the Southern District of New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
A formal nomination to serve as Attorney General would require confirmation by the U.S. Senate under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. As of publication, no nomination paperwork has been filed with the Senate Judiciary Committee, and no hearing date has been scheduled, according to the committee's publicly available calendar.
The Department of Justice did not issue a press release or official statement confirming the nomination as of June 4, 2026. The White House has not posted a formal announcement on whitehouse.gov as of the time of publication.
Several factual questions remain unanswered by available public records. The precise timeline for a Senate floor vote is unknown; that information would become available once the nomination is formally transmitted to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee schedules confirmation hearings. Whether Blanche has filed updated financial disclosure forms consistent with a permanent appointment — required under the Ethics in Government Act — is not yet determinable from public records; those documents, if filed, would be available through the Office of Government Ethics database.