Todd Blanche Faces Senate Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General Amid Democratic Opposition and Republican Vacancy

Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee opened Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET, marking the first major nomination fight the panel has faced since the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had been a former committee chairman. Graham's absence left Republicans navigating a vacancy on the committee as they prepare for a confirmation vote scheduled for the following week.

Blanche's path to the role began when Trump appointed him deputy attorney general upon returning to office; he later became acting Attorney General following the departure of Pam Bondi. Fox News reported that Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said colleagues were working to fill Graham's Judiciary Committee seat before the confirmation vote, and that she expected Blanche to be confirmed so he could "crack down on crime, eradicate the two tiers of justice, and wipe out fraud."

Twenty conservative leaders, in a letter shared with Fox News Digital and organized by the Article III Project, urged Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to confirm Blanche promptly. Signatories including America First Legal Executive Director Gene Hamilton and John Eastman of the Claremont Institute cited Blanche's clerkships, his time as a federal prosecutor, and his defense of Trump against what they described as politically motivated prosecutions. Trump himself posted on Truth Social praising Blanche's loyalty during his criminal defense.