President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday his plan to nominate Todd Blanche, the acting Attorney General, to head the Department of Justice permanently. This decision is expected to heighten tensions on Capitol Hill.

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and Trump’s personal defense attorney, has been leading as acting attorney general since April after Pam Bondi’s dismissal, according to the Associated Press. The nomination requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate, where Republicans hold a slight majority.

“We are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump stated at a White House event, as seen in a video shared by Dan Scavino on X. Newsweek attempted to get comments from the White House through email late Wednesday.

Key Issues

Recently, Blanche faced challenges due to a proposed $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund”. The fund intends to compensate individuals claiming unjust targeting by the government.

This proposal received bipartisan criticism and encountered legal hurdles, compelling the administration to adhere to a federal court order that temporarily blocked it.

Addressing this on MS Now’s The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Wednesday night, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remarked, “Todd Blanche is not qualified to be the deputy attorney general, the acting attorney general, and he certainly is not qualified to be the United States attorney general. The role of that particular position is to serve as the people’s lawyer. Todd Blanche has been acting like Donald Trump’s lawyer, which was his former position, but he has failed to transition in terms of behaving in the best interest of the American people.”

Jeffries cited the anti-weaponization fund, noting that the administration temporarily halted its efforts due to “intense public pressure.”

This story is developing and will be updated with additional information.