Politics · ArchiveTrump's Ex-Lawyer Takes Charge of Justice After 50-49 Senate VoteAired August 11, 2026 at 11:27 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Todd Blanch was sworn in as US [music]0:02Attorney General at the White House on0:03August 10th, putting Donald Trump's0:05former personal lawyer in charge of0:07federal law enforcement. The Senate0:09confirmed him early Saturday [music]0:10morning, August 9th, by a single vote,0:1350 to 49 after a contentious fight.0:15Blanch had already been running the0:17department as acting attorney general0:19since Trump [music] fired his0:20predecessor Pam Bondi in April. A number0:22of Republican senators held out until0:25the end, [music] requiring Blanch to0:27personally assure them he would not0:28simply say yes to the president. The0:30oath was taken at the White House,0:32[music] but the Justice Department is0:33part of the executive branch that for0:35much of history has been seen as0:36apolitical, expected to make legal0:38decisions independent of the [music]0:40White House. He now leads a department0:42described as at an all-time low in0:43morale, where career prosecutors and0:45agents must [music] trust that0:47investigations and enforcement will be0:48guided by law rather than loyalty. The0:51[music] immediate choices ahead include0:52rebuilding the department and handling0:54fraud enforcement, immigration, and0:56election related litigation, and whether0:58[music] those private promises to hold0:59outs hold when the department confronts1:01its first politically charged test, and1:03whether a structure built on aolitical1:05independence can be restored under a1:06former personal lawyer to the president.1:09For more stories that matter, like1:11[music] and subscribe.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗