Todd Blanche faces his biggest public test Wednesday in his bid to serve as President Donald Trump’s fourth confirmed attorney general: a Senate Judiciary Committee with a pair of undecided Republicans.
The panel’s two-day hearing, which will feature Blanche on the first day and outside witnesses on the second, will likely air some of the most controversial efforts of the second Trump administration, ranging from the handling of the investigation into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown, criminal cases against the president’s critics and the $1.8 billion settlement fund that the Justice Department is still fighting for in court.
After the hearing Wednesday, the future of Blanche’s bid for attorney general rests in the hands of a pair of Republicans who do not face voters this fall: Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The duo — Cornyn was defeated in his primary and Tillis is retiring after this term — have said they have not yet decided whether they will support Blanche’s nomination. Either could join Democrats to stall Blanche’s nomination.
In addition, the dais will be missing one of the president’s staunchest allies in Congress: the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Graham, who died over the weekend after a sudden illness, previously served as the Judiciary Committee’s chairman and presided over the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.
