What Happened
NPR reported that President Donald Trump said he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, moving his former personal lawyer from acting leadership into the permanent top job at the Justice Department.
According to NPR, Blanche became acting attorney general after Pam Bondi's firing and moved quickly to position himself as the favorite, including by accelerating investigations into Trump foes and announcing a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund for people claiming political persecution.
AP said Trump announced at a White House dinner that he planned to nominate Blanche formally and quoted him saying, "We are going to make him permanent attorney general." AP also noted Blanche was elevated after Bondi's ouster and had made clear through splashy moves that he intended to prove his loyalty to Trump.
Why This Matters
The attorney general is not supposed to be the president's personal grievance manager. The job is supposed to run the Justice Department, defend the rule of law and make prosecutorial decisions that can survive more than one cable-news segment.
Blanche's resume is not automatically disqualifying because he once represented Trump. But when the same department is pursuing Trump enemies, floating compensation schemes for allies and asking for Senate confirmation, the appearance problem is not subtle. It is wearing a name tag.
The Dumb Part With The Confirmation Resume
The dumb part is treating loyalty theater as administrative experience. A $1.776 billion fund for alleged political persecution was so hot that even Congress recoiled and the Justice Department had to back away. That is not a policy rollout. That is a smoke alarm with letterhead.
Now the person attached to that episode is being moved toward the permanent AG chair, which means senators get to ask whether the nation's chief law enforcement officer is running justice or customer service for presidential grudges.
The Bottom Line
Blanche denies politicizing the department and says he is correcting past abuses. The real stupid shit is a Justice Department confirmation fight where the central qualification may be how convincingly someone can call revenge institutional reform.
Sources
NPR: President Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general
AP: Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general