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The Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is the big show in Washington this week. It should be a straight-forward test of competence and character, not a political circus. Blanche has been running the Department of Justice as Acting AG and now faces senators who will grill him about email threads, court rulings, and a very loud letter from former DOJ officials. The question for lawmakers is simple: do they want a serious, experienced prosecutor running the Justice Department or more politics masked as oversight?
What the hearing really covers
This week’s hearing is not a theoretical debate. It is the practical moment when senators can judge Blanche’s record while he led DOJ teams, handled tough cases, and ran the department’s operations. Expect questions about court rulings tied to high-profile litigation, documents produced in oversight inquiries, and the widely reported letter from about 1,200 former Justice Department employees urging rejection. Those are serious items to probe. They don’t, however, automatically disqualify a candidate who has real experience as a federal prosecutor and DOJ leader.
Why Todd Blanche is qualified
Todd Blanche has decades of courtroom experience and roughly 15 years inside the Justice Department. He has served as a federal prosecutor, worked in private practice, and stepped in as Deputy and now Acting Attorney General, managing tens of thousands of employees. Running DOJ is not a resume booster — it’s a job that needs steady hands. Blanche has also led teams in high-stakes litigation, which is exactly the kind of background you want for an attorney general. Experience matters. Competence matters. Loyalty to the rule of law matters.
Ignore the pre-hearing melodrama
There will be headlines and hot takes. A big letter from former officials, selective email leaks, and scolding judges make good copy. But Washington loves a dramatic pre-hearing pile-on. Senators should separate real oversight from political theater. Courts will sort out legal disputes; judges issue rulings every day that get appealed and debated. The job of the attorney general is to enforce the law, protect national security, and defend the civil rights of Americans — not to satisfy every media narrative or every former employee with a grudge.
Confirm him and move on
Chairman Chuck Grassley and the Senate Judiciary Committee should focus on facts, not spin. If Blanche answers questions straight, confirms he will protect the independence of career prosecutors, and shows he will run DOJ professionally, Republican senators should unite behind him. Sensible Democrats who care about a functional Justice Department should too. The nation deserves an attorney general who knows the law, can manage the department, and won’t let politics hollow out the DOJ. That should be enough to get this nomination across the finish line — unless you prefer Washington’s drama over government that actually works.
