The U.S. Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general early Saturday, August 8, 2026, in a 50-49 vote that split along near-party lines, with two Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition. The roll call, vote number 230 of the 119th Congress's second session, was recorded at 4:17 a.m. U.S. Senate

All Senate Democrats voted no, along with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Collins announced her opposition on August 4, narrowing Blanche's path to the 50-vote threshold. Reuters The absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell further compressed the margin, making the support of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana pivotal. Cassidy, who lost his renomination bid to a Trump-backed challenger, provided the vote that put Blanche over the top. NPR

Blanche, of Florida, will serve as the 88th Attorney General of the United States. He had been serving as acting attorney general after President Trump pushed out Pam Bondi. Before that, he served as the Justice Department's No. 2 leader and as Trump's personal lawyer. The White House sent his nomination to the Senate on June 8. White House Senate Judiciary Committee

The confirmation followed a nomination process that exposed fractures within the Senate Republican conference over two DOJ actions tied to the Trump-IRS settlement. The first was the department's $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, created as part of a settlement between Trump and the IRS over the president's leaked tax returns, to compensate people alleging the federal government had been weaponized against them. Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both departing Congress, held up the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Blanche's nomination until he gave written assurances the fund was dead.

On August 2, Blanche provided a written statement saying the order establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund "is rescinded and shall have no force or effect." That same day, the Justice Department issued a second written statement clarifying the scope of tax audit protections from the Trump-IRS settlement, which had shielded Trump, his family and his companies from any tax audits. NPR

Cassidy said his decision to back Blanche was not a referendum on the president, while acknowledging concerns over Blanche's judgment in exempting the president from IRS audits and the DOJ bringing suits against the president's perceived political enemies. NPR

Blanche appeared at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 15. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley delivered remarks ahead of the confirmation on August 7, citing falling crime statistics including a 73% drop in carjackings and a 56% drop in residential burglaries. Senate Judiciary Committee

The White House had pushed for swift confirmation. A July 31 statement urged the Senate to confirm Blanche without delay, and a July 14 statement said law enforcement leaders across America supported the nomination. White House White House

The confirmation vote caps a nomination fight that turned less on Blanche's qualifications than on the policy actions he oversaw as acting attorney general. The Anti-Weaponization Fund and the IRS audit exemptions, both products of the Trump-IRS settlement, became the central vetting issues. Cornyn and Tillis extracted written concessions before releasing their committee votes, and Collins cited the same concerns in her August 4 announcement of opposition. Cassidy, whose own political standing within the party was weakened by his renomination loss, nonetheless acknowledged those concerns on the record while providing the decisive vote. The dynamic underscores the degree to which Trump-era DOJ actions have become confirmable only through written commitments to unwind them — and the narrowness of the Republican majority means individual senators retain meaningful leverage over nominees whose confirmations depend on near-universal conference unity.