Todd Blanche

In pushing to prove his loyalty to President Donald Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has agitated the same Republican lawmakers whose votes he may need to secure the permanent job. Blanche insists he’s not auditioning for the job of attorney general. But a succession of splashy, eyebrow-raising moves since he took the position on an acting basis last month has left no doubt about the impression he’s hoping to make on the president who appointed him. When he signed off on a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate Trump’s allies for alleged political prosecution, Blanche put himself at the center of a Republican firestorm.

President Donald Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, tapping his former personal attorney who has aggressively pursued the Republican president’s agenda while leading the Justice Department in an acting role. Blanche sought quickly to position himself as the favorite for the permanent job after Pam Bondi’s firing in April, accelerating investigations into Trump foes and announcing a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate the president’s allies for alleged political persecution. The proposed fund created a bipartisan firestorm that forced the Justice Department to scrap the idea earlier this week in an extraordinary about-face.