WASHINGTON, D.C. — Todd Blanche appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, for his confirmation hearing to become U.S. Attorney General. His nomination has drawn scrutiny over his role in a controversial settlement between former President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as broader questions about his independence from Trump.

Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April 2026, when President Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi. He was previously confirmed by the Senate as deputy attorney general in 2025. His current nomination comes amid a closely divided Judiciary Committee, which now holds an 11-10 partisan split following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham on July 12, 2026. A tie or negative vote in committee would require a procedural maneuver on the Senate floor to advance his nomination to a full vote.

Two Republican senators whose support is considered pivotal—John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina—have not yet decided whether to back Blanche. Cornyn, who was defeated in his Republican primary election earlier in 2026, stated he would withhold judgment until after the hearing. Tillis, who is retiring after his current term, said before the July 4 recess that he had not seen “anything disqualifying” in Blanche’s record but added, “If there’s even a whiff of a lack of independence, then that could influence my vote.” Tillis also announced plans to question Blanche about his past support for defendants convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Central to the hearing was Blanche’s involvement in the settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the release of his tax returns. That settlement granted Trump and his family members immunity from tax audits and created a $1.8 billion fund for individuals who claimed they were victims of alleged “weaponization” of federal agencies by prior Democratic administrations. On Monday, July 13, 2026, a federal judge in Florida issued a sharply worded ruling, stating that Trump had used her courtroom to “provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law.” The same judge also ruled the settlement constituted self-dealing and referred the matter to the Florida Bar Association.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey had previously signed a legal brief opposing the $1.8 billion fund. Meanwhile, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote a letter to the Justice Department on July 13, urging that no new attorney general be confirmed until the department responds to all outstanding congressional oversight requests. Outside the Senate, more than 1,000 former Justice Department employees signed a letter opposing Blanche’s nomination, and the New York Bar issued a letter declaring him unfit for office.

Despite the opposition, Blanche has received notable support. The national Fraternal Order of Police publicly backed his nomination, and former Attorney General William Barr published a Wall Street Journal op-ed in June 2026 arguing in favor of Blanche. “No one has a better chance of pushing back on Trump’s worst instincts,” Barr wrote. Blanche’s prior legal work for Trump includes representing him in the Manhattan hush-money prosecution, the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, and the January 6 prosecution brought by special counsel Jack Smith—a history that Sen. Adam Schiff previously questioned during Blanche’s 2025 confirmation hearing for deputy attorney general, citing potential conflicts of interest.

Additional actions during Blanche’s tenure as acting attorney general have also drawn attention. Pam Bondi stated that Blanche oversaw the redactions of materials related to Jeffrey Epstein. He also shut down the Justice Department unit tasked with investigating fraud in the cryptocurrency market. Critics, including advocacy groups like Common Cause, have urged senators to hold Blanche accountable for these decisions. Jay Young, Common Cause’s senior policy director of civil rights and civil liberties, said, “We’re doing what we can in our power to remind Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Tillis what they had said in the past and let them know that by all objective standards their concerns were well justified.”

Why It Matters

The outcome of Blanche’s confirmation could shape the Justice Department’s direction on issues ranging from executive accountability to civil liberties and financial regulation. His close ties to Trump, combined with judicial rulings questioning the legality of his prior legal maneuvers, have intensified debate over whether the nation’s top law enforcement officer can operate independently of the president who appointed him. With the Judiciary Committee narrowly split and two key Republican senators undecided, the nomination’s fate may hinge on whether Blanche can convince skeptics of his impartiality.

Blanche’s hearing also occurs against a backdrop of institutional scrutiny: a federal court has already condemned a major settlement he helped negotiate as self-dealing, and bar associations in two states have raised ethical concerns. If confirmed, he would lead a department facing multiple oversight demands from Congress and ongoing public skepticism about its role in politically sensitive investigations.