The United States Senate has approved this Saturday the appointment of Todd Blanche as the new attorney general of the country. Blanche, who was personal lawyer of President Donald Trump, had been serving in the position provisionally since the dismissal in April of Pam Bondi, in a context marked by doubts about his political independence.
"I feel deeply honored by the trust and faith that President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice (...) I thank the Senate for staying late to complete this process," announced the new attorney general in a message on his social media.
In that same statement, Blanche wanted to acknowledge the work of "the dedicated public servants of the Department of Justice" and their daily effort to defend the rule of law and ensure the security of the United States.
The upper chamber has given the green light to his designation with a tight vote of 50-49, after the Republicans finally aligned with the candidate. The senator from Louisiana Bill Cassidy, who had expressed reservations, ended up voting in favor after it was confirmed that his party colleagues Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined the Democrats to reject Trump's nominee.
The definitive landing of Blanche at the head of the Department of Justice comes after weeks of scrutiny over his career as a lawyer for the Trump family. Among other cases, the lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been recalled, which included clauses aimed at protecting the president and his associates from future audits.
His critics have also focused on his actions already within the Department of Justice, where he would have participated in efforts to prosecute some of Trump's alleged political enemies, redirected resources towards anti-immigration initiatives, and promoted campaigns against diversity policies in educational institutions.
The Democrats have maintained their rejection of Blanche since the beginning of the confirmation process. They reproach him for his role in managing the investigations of the Prosecutor's Office regarding the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the attempts to legally pursue Trump's alleged adversaries, and the departure of thousands of prosecutors and employees from the Department of Justice in response to these practices.
The confirmation of Blanche occurs after the acting attorney general himself canceled the controversial "fund against political instrumentalization," which provided for million-dollar compensations for Trump's political allies, and presented a report to modify Trump's agreement with the IRS regarding the leaks of his tax information in 2019. However, Blanche's detractors question the actual legal scope of these documents.