U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Alabama, on Tuesday celebrated the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for U.S. attorney general after voting in his favor.
The committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance Blanche’s nomination following an agreement that secured the support of two Republican holdouts.
Britt, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said she was pleased Blanche’s nomination would advance to the full Senate.
“Just voted to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination to be Attorney General out of Senate Judiciary,” Britt wrote. “Looking forward to getting him quickly confirmed and in place as AG!”
Britt said Blanche has demonstrated a “commitment to strengthening the partnership between our federal, state, and local law enforcement.”
“That cooperation is delivering real results in Alabama and across our nation,” Britt wrote. “I look forward to confirming him as Attorney General so he can continue his leadership at the DOJ.”
Blanche served as one of President Donald Trump’s defense attorneys from 2023 to 2024 during the New York criminal case involving hush money paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. He joined the Justice Department in 2025 as deputy attorney general under Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Bondi resigned in April.
Blanche reached an agreement Sunday evening with Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Senator Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, the two Republican committee members who had previously withheld their support.
Cornyn and Tillis refused to support Blanche until they received written assurances that the Justice Department would terminate its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” Blanche helped broker the fund as part of Trump’s settlement agreement with the Internal Revenue Service.
The fund would have allowed people who believed the federal government unjustly prosecuted them during President Joe Biden’s administration to seek financial compensation. The proposal drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans, who argued that it could be used to compensate people involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Blanche issued a memorandum Sunday night formally rescinding the May Justice Department order that created the fund.
The memorandum also limits another provision of the settlement that granted tax audit immunity to Trump and members of his family. Under the memorandum, the immunity would apply only retroactively to claims opened before the settlement agreement and would not prevent future examinations of the Trump family’s finances.
Democratic committee members warned that the Trump administration could revive the fund after Blanche’s confirmation.
Trump defended the now-rescinded fund while speaking to reporters Sunday.
“A lot of people like it,” Trump said. “A lot of big supporters of Trump like it.”
The Legal Defense Fund also opposed Blanche’s nomination, criticizing him for referring to himself as the president’s personal lawyer. The organization said the statement broke “decades of precedent requiring the Attorney General to put loyalty to the Constitution over political agendas.”
“Moving this nomination process forward is wholly irresponsible and a slap in the face to the American public,” Legal Defense Fund Policy Director Demetria McCain said. “Todd Blanche is a self-proclaimed puppet of the Trump White House, not the protector of our laws that the Justice Department needs.”
“The Attorney General must demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to the principles of equality upon which our multiracial democracy was founded during the civil rights movement, which Blanche has not,” McCain continued. “The Attorney General must be a highly skilled lawyer of integrity, which Blanche is not. The Attorney General must inspire confidence that they will uphold the laws over political whims, which Blanche does not. The full Senate must block this nomination.”
Britt has not publicly endorsed the anti-weaponization fund. However, she and Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, voted last month in favor of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appropriations and against amendments proposed by Democratic lawmakers to restrict the fund.
Tuberville expressed support for the fund in May but said people convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6 attack should not be eligible for compensation.
Tuberville also celebrated the Judiciary Committee vote Tuesday and urged the Senate to confirm Blanche.
“Had a GREAT conversation with our next AG,” Tuberville wrote alongside a photograph of himself and Blanche. “I’m glad his nomination FINALLY passed out of committee. We need to get him confirmed by the entire Senate IMMEDIATELY.”
The full Senate will now consider Blanche’s nomination.
