Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announces a second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey during a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 28, 2026. REUTERS Nathan Howard
The National Review isn't known for being supportive of the left. Yet, when it comes to nominating a new GOP attorney general, the site is urging senators to vote against the confirmation of Todd Blanche.
In an anti-endorsement from "the editors," the site argued that in Blanche's month-long audition for the job, he "has distinguished himself in this interim period only as an instrument of Trump’s unworthy and abusive campaign to investigate and prosecute his political opponents."
The Editors made it clear that it doesn't matter much who is appointed to handle the attorney general's office because "the president is running the Justice Department. He originally installed Blanche as deputy AG — thanks to Senate Republican quiescence and a strict party-line vote (52–46) back in March 2025 when Trump was at his strongest — because Blanche had served as his loyal and zealous defense lawyer during the onslaught of criminal prosecutions brought against Trump by Democratic prosecutors at the federal and state levels."
They cited Blanche's concerning "weaponization working group," which has been used to target Trump foes like former FBI Director James Comey.
According to the editors, while Comey is bad enough, Trump has also taken after two members of the board of governors for the Federal Reserve: Jerome Powell and Lisa Cook. "The pursuit of Powell and Cook gives the lie to the notion that this is all just 'turnabout is fair play' against people who abused the prosecutorial system themselves," the editorial said.
Ultimately, the editors say that Blanche is unqualified for the job. But the editors think that they're still "better off with Blanche" than Trump's pick for director of national intelligence.
"We’re better off with Blanche, who has a strong prosecutorial background and has, reportedly, fought off at least some of the lawfare gambits. The DOJ, the thinking goes, will operate in a marginally less appalling fashion under Blanche than it might under a wholly unqualified lackey (see, e.g., Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence director)," the editorial explained.
The column concludes that Senate Republicans should reject Blanche’s nomination for attorney general. The Senate, they argued, has a duty to ensure the DOJ meets the "constitutional and statutory obligation to enforce the law evenhandedly, without fear, favor, or political bias."
Under Blanche, that isn't likely to happen.