President Trump indicated Wednesday that he plans to make acting Attorney General Todd Blanche the permanent leader of the Justice Department, though he declined to provide a specific timeline for submitting the nomination to the Senate.
During an appearance on the podcast Pod Force One, Trump expressed confidence in Blanche's performance. "He's a very talented guy. Todd's doing a very good job at DOJ," Trump said when asked about making the position permanent. The president responded affirmatively when directly asked if Blanche would become attorney general, saying "I think he will."
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Trump took office. Before joining the administration, he worked as a defense attorney and represented Trump in various legal matters. His appointment as a permanent attorney general would require Senate confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate, which could facilitate the approval process.
The nomination comes as Blanche faces significant legal challenges related to his handling of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Investigative journalist Katie Phang filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday alleging that Blanche engaged in a "brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation" of the transparency law requiring the Department of Justice to release all government documents about Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The lawsuit accuses Blanche of missing statutory deadlines for releasing documents, making improper or excessive redactions, failing to explain redactions as required by law, and withholding or retracting documents after they were released. Congress passed the transparency act in November with a December 19, 2025 deadline for full document release.
Blanche has defended the redactions as necessary to prevent inadvertent identification of Epstein's victims, many of whom are minors, and acknowledged that "mistakes are inevitable." However, critics including House Judiciary Committee Democratic ranking member Jamie Raskin said there were "tons of completely unnecessary redactions" alongside failures to redact victims' names.
The lawsuit seeks to have the court declare the Justice Department in violation of the law, order release of all required documents without unlawful redactions, and appoint an independent special master from outside the department to oversee future compliance.
Additionally, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General announced last week that it was launching its own audit into the department's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The legal action represents the latest enforcement effort for the transparency law, which was authored by Democratic California Representative Ro Khanna and Republican Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie. A hearing date for Phang's lawsuit has not yet been scheduled.