Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said he is "honored and humbled" by President Donald Trump's decision to nominate him as the permanent head of the Department of Justice, capping a week in which the DOJ announced a string of federal arrests, dismantled a cross-border drug-smuggling tunnel, and scrapped a controversial $1.8 billion fund tied to the weaponization of government agencies against the Trump family.
Trump announced his plans on Wednesday to elevate Blanche from acting to permanent attorney general. Blanche, who took over the role in April after former Attorney General Pam Bondi's departure, discussed the nomination and the department's recent operations during an appearance on Fox News's "Saturday in America."
The nomination makes official what has been a fast-moving tenure. In just weeks as acting AG, Blanche has overseen a DOJ that has moved aggressively on border security, counterterrorism, and fraud, priorities that align squarely with the enforcement agenda Trump campaigned on and that many conservative voters have demanded for years.
Blanche wasted no time connecting his work to the president's mandate. As Fox News Digital reported, Blanche laid out his priorities in plain terms:
"Look, executing on the president's priorities that he has talked about since he was running for president, and that's making this country safe again. And, so, we're doing that every day at the Department of Justice."
That framing, safety first, politics second, is a sharp contrast to the DOJ under the Biden administration, which spent years pursuing Trump through special counsel Jack Smith's investigations while border crossings surged and fentanyl deaths climbed. Blanche, notably, served as Trump's lead criminal defense attorney in those very cases before joining the administration.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles offered her own endorsement of the pick, posting on X: "Todd is a friend and I look forward to continuing our work together."
The week's DOJ actions read like a highlight reel designed to answer any senator who might question whether Blanche deserves the permanent job. The department announced a series of arrests, the dismantling of a sophisticated drug-smuggling tunnel stretching 2,000 feet from Mexico into San Diego, and the seizure of $45 million in cocaine.
Blanche called the tunnel operation "very sophisticated" and tied it directly to the administration's border enforcement posture. With the border tightened, he said, smugglers are being forced to adapt, and the DOJ is keeping pace.
"Now that the borders are closed, they have to find other ways to get drugs in this country. And this was one way they were trying to do it."
Separately, the DOJ announced indictments of three individuals accused of providing material support to ISIS. Blanche described those charges as "very disturbing" and offered a sober warning that the threat has not passed.
"It's a good reminder to the Americans that this fight is not over. There are still a lot of people that want to inject harm into this country and our citizens."
That kind of plain talk from an attorney general, naming the enemy, acknowledging the ongoing risk, and refusing to soften the message, is something conservative voters have wanted for a long time. It is also the kind of talk that tends to draw sharp opposition from the left, which has spent years treating enforcement language as a political problem rather than a law enforcement necessity.
Perhaps the most consequential move of Blanche's week had nothing to do with tunnels or terrorism. Earlier this week, Blanche announced that the DOJ would not move forward with a nearly $1.8 billion fund, sometimes referred to as an "anti-weaponization" fund, connected to the settlement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service.
The fund stemmed from a case in which Trump, his family members, and the Trump Organization agreed to forgo monetary damages related to the release of their tax returns. On Monday, the DOJ said it would comply with a court ruling that temporarily blocked the fund. By Tuesday, Blanche confirmed the decision at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, leaving no ambiguity.
"We're not moving forward with the fund, period."
That decision will draw praise from fiscal hawks and criticism from those who saw the fund as a legitimate remedy for government overreach against the Trump family. But Blanche's willingness to close the door firmly, rather than litigate it indefinitely, suggests a DOJ leader more interested in forward momentum than in relitigating old grievances. Whether that posture holds through a Senate confirmation process remains to be seen.
Blanche has already faced questions on Capitol Hill. A photo caption from his May 19, 2026, appearance at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington shows him testifying before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, the kind of hearing that previews the scrutiny he will face if formally nominated.
Blanche stepped into the acting role after Pam Bondi left the attorney general's office in April. Bondi's departure drew speculation from some conservatives about whether the Jeffrey Epstein files played a role, speculation that Blanche has flatly denied.
The Epstein question has followed DOJ leadership like a shadow. Democrats have signaled they intend to use the issue as leverage, and Blanche has already been drawn into the debate. His handling of related matters, including his decision to rule out a DOJ pardon recommendation for Ghislaine Maxwell, suggests he is prepared to take clear positions rather than dodge.
That directness extends to his broader DOJ agenda. Since taking over, Blanche has launched a fraud crackdown targeting what he described as $1 trillion in taxpayer programs at risk of waste and abuse. The FBI, under Director Kash Patel, has worked alongside Blanche on enforcement actions, including the release of a list of most-wanted fraudsters.
Blanche's path from Trump's personal defense lawyer to acting AG to permanent nominee is unusual by any measure. Critics will call it a reward for loyalty. Supporters will argue that a lawyer who defended the president against what they view as politically motivated prosecutions is exactly the person to reform a department that lost the public's trust.
The confirmation fight, whenever it comes, will test both arguments. Blanche will need to persuade senators that he can run the DOJ independently, not as the president's lawyer, but as the nation's top law enforcement officer. His record over the past several weeks gives him material to work with: arrests, indictments, tunnel takedowns, and a willingness to shut down a billion-dollar fund when the facts called for it.
The DOJ under the Biden administration spent years chasing Trump. The DOJ under Trump is now chasing drug smugglers, ISIS supporters, and government fraudsters. Voters can decide which version of the Justice Department actually serves justice.
If Blanche's first weeks are any indication, the department is finally pointed in the right direction. The Senate should take a hard look, and then let the man do his job.