Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is nominated to serve in the role permanently, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night.
Blanche took over the role after Trump fired then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in early April. It was unclear whether Blanche would continue to oversee the department or if Trump would nominate another individual.
“He’s acting attorney general, and tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which I think is going to go very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said, according to a video posted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
President Trump with an announcement tonight at the @WhiteHouse…
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) June 4, 2026
Congratulations @TheJusticeDept @DAGToddBlanche—🇺🇸🦅 pic.twitter.com/7C7N0Gjall
Trump indicated that Blanche would be the likely permanent pick, pending congressional confirmation, during an interview on “Pod Force One with Miranda Devine.”
“I think he will,” he said when asked.
“I wanted to see how he's received. You know, we put him as acting and he's done a very good job, but I've known him a long time,” the president added when asked by Devine if he had considered anyone else for the role, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
“No, Ron's very good. Ron's very good,” he said. “You know, people have thought of different names. There are some good names,” Trump said.
“No, I had never thought Ron never talked about, you know, he's a governor doing a good job, but Ron's good. He's a friend of mine. Just named an airport after me,” he continued.
The decision to nominate Blanche earned the praise of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
“This is great news,” he posted to X. “It’s a shame the media won’t honestly tell you about the historic drop in national violent crime and murder rates resulting from this man’s leadership.”
This is great news.
— James Uthmeier (@JamesUthmeierFL) June 4, 2026
It’s a shame the media won’t honestly tell you about the historic drop in national violent crime and murder rates resulting from this man’s leadership. https://t.co/03B6Nks9ma
Blanche testified on the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, where he said that the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund would no longer be happening, as it faced a federal court order blockage and congressional backlash.
"We're not moving forward with the fund. Period,” the acting attorney general said.
Today, we’re excited to announce the Model Cities Initiative which is the next step in this administration's mission to restore law and order, back the Blue, and Make America SAFE again.
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 3, 2026
Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, we are surging $300 million in grant funds to support… pic.twitter.com/jHR4TgTXjX
As for other efforts, the acting attorney general announced the Model Cities Initiative to help cities crack down on crime on Wednesday.
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