Senate Judiciary Committee postpones vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination

Grassley’s office said the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a Thursday vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, stretching out a fight over one of the Justice Department’s most consequential posts. Congress.gov identified the nomination as PN1078, Todd Blanche of Florida to be attorney general, vice Pamela Bondi, and listed committee consideration as the latest action on July 16.

The committee had already spent two days on Blanche’s confirmation hearings, on July 15 and July 16, at 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. During that session, Blanche faced testy questioning over Justice Department independence, outstanding oversight requests and the handling of investigations, including questions tied to Jeffrey Epstein-related files, while trying to win support from Republican senators on the panel.

The delay gave Senate Democrats more room to press their case that the nomination was moving too quickly. Dick Durbin entered a statement into the Congressional Record criticizing Trump’s nomination of Blanche, and Judiciary Committee Democrats argued that the Justice Department had not answered dozens of oversight requests before the hearing. By slowing the vote, Democrats kept pressure on Blanche and on Republican leaders who needed to decide whether to advance him without a clearer show of support.

Outside groups also hardened the lines around the nomination. The New York City Bar formally opposed Blanche’s confirmation, while the Republican National Lawyers Association and Americans for Prosperity circulated letters urging Chuck Grassley to confirm him. Congress.gov later listed a Senate Judiciary Committee open business meeting for July 23 at 10:15 a.m. local time to consider Blanche and other nominees, showing that the panel had shifted the timetable rather than closed the door on the nomination.

The postponement underscored how much leverage the Judiciary Committee still held over Blanche’s path to the attorney general’s office. With the hearing behind him and the vote pushed back, the nomination remained in active committee territory, where Republican support, Democratic resistance and outside lobbying were all competing to shape the next step.