Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be Attorney General, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jul. 15. AFP-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, was sworn in Monday as attorney general after a bruising confirmation fight that exposed bipartisan concerns about the Justice Department's direction under the Republican president.
Another former Trump attorney — Emil Bove, now a federal appeals court judge — administered the oath of office to Blanche at the White House following early Saturday's Senate confirmation vote by the narrowest of margins.
Blanche, a former federal prosecutor in New York, is officially taking command of a Justice Department he has been leading in an acting capacity since Pam Bondi's firing in April.
With the confirmation battle behind him, Blanche now faces the challenge of having to navigate the demands of a president who has made no secret his desire to use the law enforcement agency to target his political foes. Blanche will do so with an agency that has been hollowed out by resignations, firings and voluntary departures while also confronting mounting pushback from the courts.
