Attorney General Todd Blanche called for unity at the Justice Department on Thursday, promising in his first address to its workforce to leave the agency “more faithful to its highest ideals than when I found it.”
Speaking in the Great Hall at the DOJ headquarters in Washington, Blanche praised career employees and sought to reassure a workforce depleted by firings and resignations and bruised by courtroom setbacks and accusations of political interference.
FULL EVENT: AG Blanche Delivers Introductory Remarks at DOJ Press Conference – 08/13/26 pic.twitter.com/sDhTpk2IKs
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“I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity,” Blanche said, pledging to uphold the rule of law “without fear or favor.”
Blanche’s core message was one of unity among employees with “different backgrounds, different politics, different life experiences.” He said he would welcome ideas and encourage disagreement within the department.
“I think disagreement is the only way that we make the best decisions as a department,” Blanche said. “I think the fair administration of justice and us doing our jobs depend on that.”
The conciliatory address followed more than a year of major changes at the department under President Donald Trump.
From mass departures, firing former administration holdovers, and investigations involving the president’s perceived political enemies, Democrats and critics of Trump have claimed he is misusing the nation’s top law enforcement arm, despite the Biden administration’s attempts to indict Trump twice using former special counsel Jack Smith and its pursuit of other prosecutions that critics considered partisan.
Meanwhile, USAJobs.gov currently lists more than 500 DOJ openings across the country as of Thursday.
Blanche was confirmed by the Senate early Saturday in a 50-49 vote. Two Republicans opposed him after raising concerns about politicization at the department. Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, had been acting attorney general since April.
In many respects, Blanche’s confirmation is also a chance for the DOJ under Trump to have a clean slate, after it was quickly attacked by Democrats and the media last year after former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s botched rollout of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time, was integral to helping the rollout of Epstein-related materials in the weeks after Trump signed a transparency law ordering their release.
Blanche’s official elevation also opens up the question of who will assume his former position as deputy attorney general. While that remains unclear, one possible contender for the role could include Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who notably worked with Blanche on Trump’s criminal defense team prior to Trump’s election victory in 2024.
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Blanche acknowledged that he would “not get every decision right” but promised to work hard and listen to department employees. He also pledged to respect the judiciary and reject “performative attacks that undermine the institutions that we are sworn to uphold.”
“My goal,” he said, “is to leave this department more faithful to its highest ideals than when I found it.”
