Senate Hands Trump a One-Vote DOJ Victory

A narrow Senate vote has put Todd Blanche in the attorney general’s chair, after Republicans held their line and pushed President Trump’s pick through a bruising confirmation fight.

Quick Take

The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche by a **50-49 vote** after an overnight rush to finish the fight.
Republicans first advanced his nomination in committee on a **12-10 party-line vote**.
Supporters said Blanche helped cut a disputed IRS-related deal and backed a tougher public-safety agenda.
Blanche had already won Senate confirmation in 2025 as deputy attorney general.

Overnight Vote Delivers a Narrow Win

The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a razor-thin vote that ended late Friday and spilled into early Saturday. The final tally was 50-49, a result that showed President Trump’s team kept enough support to secure one of the most powerful law enforcement posts in the federal government. The vote also showed how tightly divided the Senate remains on Justice Department control.

Blanche’s path to the floor was just as narrow. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination on a 12-10 vote along party lines after Republican holdouts moved back into support. Reports said the shift came after a deal that dropped a proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund tied to the earlier IRS dispute. That cleared one of the biggest roadblocks before the full Senate vote.

Republicans Closed Ranks Behind Trump’s Pick

Republican backing mattered at every step. Senator John Cornyn and other committee Republicans helped push Blanche forward after days of hesitation. Cornyn also argued that Blanche’s work was tied to lower violent crime, pointing to a Council on Criminal Justice report and a letter from more than 300 “angel families” as support for the nomination. Those arguments gave Republicans a public case for backing Trump’s nominee.

Blanche also brought prior Senate-confirmed experience to the job. The Senate confirmed him in March 2025 as deputy attorney general by a 52-46 vote, which gave him a record of already clearing the upper chamber for a senior Justice Department role. Supporters cast that earlier vote as proof that he could handle high-level legal leadership. Critics, meanwhile, focused on his closeness to Trump and the political fights surrounding the department.

Confirmation Fight Reflected a Larger Power Struggle

The Blanche battle fit a familiar pattern in Washington. Recent Justice Department nominations have turned into fights over executive power, institutional independence, and who controls federal prosecutions. Blanche’s nomination drew the same kind of attention because he had served as Trump’s personal lawyer and because the department under Trump has faced repeated claims of politicization. That backdrop made the vote about more than one man’s résumé.

The Todd Blanche confirmation vote by the US Senate was narrow. He has been confirmed as Donald Trump's attorney general. https://t.co/D6tpTlnE5a

— ABC30 Fresno (@ABC30) August 8, 2026

The narrow margin will likely shape how Blanche’s tenure is viewed from day one. A 50-49 confirmation is legal and final, but it also signals weak bipartisan trust in a job that demands public confidence. For Trump supporters, the vote will look like another hard-fought win after a Senate fight that tested Republican discipline. For critics, it will be another example of Washington tying law enforcement to partisan loyalty instead of steady judgment.