2026-08-04T15:04:16.935Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/04/politics/todd-blanches-confirmation-expected-revitalize-doj-investigations
托德·布兰奇的司法部长提名周二通过关键障碍，在参议院司法委员会投票中获得通过。此前数周，共和党人一直抗议，要求他承诺采取措施纠正司法部最具争议的失误之一。
他现在将面临获得该职位的最终考验：赢得参议院几乎所有共和党议员的支持。
布兰奇是总统唐纳德·特朗普的前私人律师，自4月临时上任以来，一直在积极推进总统的议程。这位代理司法部长深知，他必须迅速向白宫证明，自己能在总统优先关注的案件中取得成果——尤其是与他的政治优先事项和所谓对手相关的调查。
他已对总统批评过的个人和组织提起刑事诉讼，加快了对政府所谓干预2016年总统选举的俄罗斯相关调查的审查力度，并启动了一项旨在向那些认为自己被刑事司法系统错误 targeting 的人提供赔偿的近18亿美元计划，随后又将其叫停。
但自他正式获得提名以来，司法部办公室在有争议的政治案件方面相对保持沉默。消息人士称，这段间歇期可能为布兰奇获参议院确认后重启相关调查铺平道路。
一些尚未提起指控的调查在他的提名确认过程中活跃度有所下降，其中包括与特朗普-俄罗斯调查相关的大范围 probe。但了解未决调查情况的人士表示，相关公开活动预计将恢复。
与此同时，司法部的其他部门仍在推进被视为本届政府核心事务的工作，包括大规模欺诈案件和移民执法。
新的问题也开始摆在布兰奇的团队面前，尤其是与即将到来的中期选举相关的问题。司法部将不得不应对总统长期以来关于广泛存在选民欺诈的指控，这是迄今为止司法部尚未直面的考验。
布兰奇是在前司法部长帕姆·邦迪处理爱泼斯坦文件失当后接任该职位的，这一失误引发了政治风暴，至今仍在给特朗普和司法部带来麻烦。在数月来因未能积极起诉特朗普的个人和政治对手而引发讨论后，特朗普最终解雇了邦迪。
但布兰奇提名的最终障碍是他自己造成的问题。布兰奇主导了特朗普与自己所在政府之间一项前所未有的和解协议，涉及一名国税局承包商泄露特朗普税务信息的事件。
争议的焦点主要集中在一项近18亿美元的所谓“反武器化基金”上，该基金原本旨在惠及特朗普的支持者，其中可能包括1月6日国会大厦骚乱的参与者。布兰奇早已承认该基金是个错误，并表示不会推进该计划。在提名确认听证会上，在得克萨斯州参议员约翰·康尼的质询下，布兰奇承认仍有一份附加条款生效，该条款授予特朗普及其家人豁免权，使其免受国税局审计，甚至可能免受针对尚未查明事项的任何其他调查。
除了今年5月初选失利的康尼，布兰奇还必须赢得北卡罗来纳州参议员汤姆·蒂利斯的支持，蒂利斯不会寻求连任。
这一问题变得如此具有争议性，以至于共和党人不得不推迟委员会投票，因为他们担心布兰奇无法获得足够支持，蒂利斯和康尼公开指责特朗普的一名政治顾问破坏了白宫对潜在协议的批准。
布兰奇的团队和康尼的首席法律顾问进行了数日的激烈谈判，多次来回磋商，最终敲定了具体措辞，以便布兰奇能够明确确认该协议确实已作废。上周日晚间，布兰奇宣布达成解决方案。
布兰奇在X平台的帖子中分享了两份文件，一份是签署的备忘录，声明司法部正式撤销设立反武器化基金的命令；另一份是未签署的声明，澄清了国税局保护条款的内容。蒂利斯和康尼迅速表态支持该协议。
康尼周二感谢布兰奇与他的工作人员就相关命令进行合作，并表示他期望司法部在未来可能的案件中“兑现”他们的协议。
“我们需要司法部有一个稳定的力量，布兰奇先生值得获得这个机会来做到这一点，而不是继续以代理身份履职，”康尼说。
蒂利斯则表示，他“将支持布兰奇的提名，但我希望看到他能扭转这种荒谬局面的发展趋势”。
他们的投票至关重要，因为布兰奇需要获得司法委员会所有共和党议员的支持，才能进入最终的确认投票。
“花这么长时间才解决这么一个简单且合乎情理的事情，简直是种耻辱，”参议院司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利在周二听证会开始时说道。
蒂利斯还曾就布兰奇不当发布爱泼斯坦文件一事批评过他，这些文件最初包含受害者的照片或个人信息。在确认听证会上，布兰奇承认该过程中“犯了错误”，但仍为相关工作进行了辩护。
蒂利斯在7月中旬表示，如果这位代理司法部长不与爱泼斯坦的幸存者会面（他们已多次提出此要求），他就不会投票支持布兰奇。布兰奇的团队当天就安排了会面。
会面结束后，蒂利斯在社交媒体上发帖称，布兰奇“是近20年来首位主动提出与受害者会面的司法部长”。该帖子很快被编辑，将这句话替换为：“我赞扬托德·布兰奇做到了过去20年里所有前任都未曾做过的事。”
布兰奇还与委员会外的参议员进行了沟通，最引人注目的是与阿拉斯加州共和党议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基。本月早些时候，布兰奇前往该州进行了为期两天的访问，会见了当地和部落领导人。
司法部同意与安克雷奇就阿拉斯加港口未完成工程达成1.8亿美元的和解协议，撤销了拜登政府时期关于该州石油和天然气生产的两起诉讼，取消了与为美国印第安人和阿拉斯加原住民提供医疗服务的团体达成的4亿美元和解协议，并向当地执法部门、部落政府和非营利组织拨款610万美元用于打击犯罪。
Todd Blanche advances toward confirmation, paving way for reenergized Justice Department investigations
2026-08-04T15:04:16.935Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/04/politics/todd-blanches-confirmation-expected-revitalize-doj-investigations
Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general passed a key hurdle Tuesday, advancing through the Senate Judiciary Committee vote after weeks of protest from Republicans who wanted assurances that he would take steps to rein one of the department’s most controversial blunders.
He now faces his final test to earn the job: earning the vote of nearly every Republican on the Senate floor.
Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, has aggressively pursued the president’s agenda since he took over on an interim basis in April. The acting attorney general knew that he had to quickly show the White House that he can deliver results in cases the president wanted prioritized — particularly in investigations tied to his political priorities and perceived foes.
He has pursued criminal actions against people and organizations the president has criticized, accelerated scrutiny into the government’s response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and launched — then discontinued — a nearly $1.8 billion plan intended to compensate people who believe they were wrongly targeted by the criminal justice system.
But since his formal nomination, the attorney general’s office has entered a period of relative silence as it relates to controversial political cases — an interlude that sources say could set the stage for a new push once Blanche is confirmed by the Senate.
Some investigations that have not yet resulted in charges have seen less visible activity during his confirmation process, including the broad probe related to the Trump-Russia investigation. But people with knowledge of pending investigations say public activity is expected to return.
Other parts of the Justice Department, meanwhile, have continued to press forward on matters viewed as central to the administration, including large-scale fraud cases and immigration enforcement.
And new issues are beginning to pop up for Blanche’s team, particularly those related to the upcoming midterm elections. The Justice Department will have to grapple with the president’s longstanding accusations of widespread voter fraud, a test it so far has avoided.
Blanche was thrust into the job after Pam Bondi, the former attorney general, bungled the handling of the Epstein files and ignited a political firestorm that continues to cause problems for Trump and the Justice Department. Trump eventually fired Bondi after months of discussing her failure to aggressively bring cases against his personal and political foes.
But the final hurdles to his nomination were problems of his own making. Blanche oversaw an unprecedented settlement agreement between Trump and his own administration over an IRS contractor’s leak of Trump’s tax information.
Much of the furor focused on a nearly $1.8 billion dollar so-called “anti-weaponization fund” that was intended to benefit Trump supporters, including potentially Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. Blanche long ago admitted the fund was a mistake and said that it would not proceed. At his confirmation hearing, under questioning from Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, Blanche acknowledged an addendum was still in force that granted Trump and his family immunity from IRS audits and possibly any other investigation for matters not even known.
In addition to Cornyn, who lost his primary election in May, Blanche also had to win the vote of North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who is not seeking reelection.
The issue became so contentious that Republicans had to delay the committee vote out of fear that Blanche would fail to win enough support, as Tillis and Cornyn publicly accused one of Trump’s political advisors of sabotaging White House approval for a potential agreement.
Blanche’s team and Cornyn’s chief legal counsel went through contentious negotiations for several days, going back and forth several times to come up with specific language that Blanche could use confirm that the deal was indeed dead. Lat Sunday night, Blanche announced a resolution.
Blanche shared two documents in a post on X, one a signed memo stating that the Justice Department was formally rescinding the order that established anti-weaponization fund, and a second, unsigned statement clarifying the terms of the IRS protections. Tillis and Cornyn quickly affirmed their approval of the deal.
Cornyn on Tuesday thanked Blanche for working with his staff on the orders, and said that he expects the department to “live up” to their agreement in potential future cases.
“We need a stabilizing force at the Department of Justice, and Mr. Blanche deserves the opportunity to provide that, as opposed to continuing to serve in an acting capacity,” Cornyn said.
Tillis, for his part, said he was “going to support mr. Blanche’s nomination, but what I hope I see out of him is a bending of the curve of this absurdity.”
Their votes were vital, since Blanche required the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to proceed to a final vote on his confirmation.
“It’s just a crime that it took so long to work out with such a common sense thing that’s pretty simple,” Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said at the start of Tuesday’s hearing.
Tillis had also chastised Blanche over the bungled release of the Epstein files, which initially included documents that had victims’ photos or personal information. At his confirmation hearing Blanche acknowledged that “mistakes were made” in the process but still defended the effort.
Tillis said in mid-July that he would not vote for Blanche if the acting attorney general did not meet with Epstein survivors, which they had repeatedly requested. Blanche’s staff arranged that meeting the same day.
Once it was over, Tillis posted on social media that Blanche “is the first Attorney General who has even offered to meet with the victims.” The post was quickly edited to replace the sentence with: “I commend Todd Blanche for doing what all his predecessors over the last two decades never did.”
Blanche has also worked with senators outside the committee, most notably with Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska. Blanche took a two-day trip to the state earlier this month, where he met with local and tribal leaders.
The department agreed to an $180 million settlement with Anchorage over unfinished work on the port of Alaska, dropped two Biden-era lawsuits about the state’s oil and gas production, dropped a $400 million settlement with a group that provides healthcare services to American Indians and Alaska Natives, and awarded $6.1 million in grants to local law enforcement, tribal governments, and nonprofits to combat crime.