Tipsheet

We Now Know Who Will Be Nominated to Lead DOJ Permanently

Cameron Arcand
Cameron Arcand  |  June 04, 2026 9:15 AM

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.

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.”

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. 

As for other efforts, the acting attorney general announced the Model Cities Initiative to help cities crack down on crime on Wednesday.