The Steady State: Letter in Opposition to the Nomination of Todd Blanche to Serve as Attorney General of the United States
July 1, 2026
The Honorable Chuck Grassley
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Dick Durbin
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Subject: Opposition to the Nomination of Todd Blanche to Serve as Attorney General of the United States
Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin:
We write to express our strong and unequivocal opposition to the nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General of the United States.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 420 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Intelligence Community, and Congress. Drawing on deep expertise across intelligence, law enforcement, diplomacy, military affairs, homeland security, law, and oversight, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.
The Steady State has repeatedly warned that one of the most reliable indicators of rising authoritarianism overseas is the conversion of a nation’s “security services” from institutions that protect against foreign adversaries into institutions that protect and advance a political leader. Throughout history, democratic governments have failed when intelligence services, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and internal security organizations cease to serve the law and instead become instruments of personal loyalty and political power. Todd Blanche’s nomination presents precisely that danger, making this the central concern of our opposition.
The Attorney General is not merely the nation’s chief prosecutor. The Attorney General is among the most important national security officials in the federal government. As a statutory member of the National Security Council, the Attorney General participates in the highest-level deliberations concerning threats to the nation, counterterrorism, foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, cybersecurity, and national emergencies. The Attorney General supervises the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one of the most powerful security and intelligence organizations in the world. The Attorney General also issues and maintains the Attorney General Guidelines governing significant aspects of intelligence collection and counterintelligence operations conducted pursuant to Executive Order 12333 and related authorities. Few officials possess greater authority over the domestic security apparatus of the United States.
These powers are indispensable to the security of the United States. They are also among the powers most susceptible to abuse by an autocrat. The authorities to investigate, surveil, prosecute, collect intelligence, recruit informants, compel testimony, and employ the coercive machinery of the state are legitimate only when exercised in service of the Constitution and the rule of law. When those authorities are directed toward protecting a leader, punishing critics, rewarding political allies, or intimidating opponents, they become a threat not only to civil liberties, but to constitutional government itself. For that reason, the character, judgment, independence, and constitutional fidelity of the Attorney General are matters of national security.
The record demonstrates that Mr. Blanche’s primary loyalty is not to the Constitution, the Department of Justice, or the American people, but to Donald Trump personally. That conclusion is not based on isolated incidents. It emerges from a consistent pattern of conduct in which Mr. Blanche has used the powers of the Department of Justice in ways that advance the personal and political interests of the President, undermine public confidence in the impartial administration of justice, and erode the institutional independence upon which both the Department of Justice and the Intelligence Community depend.
The most fundamental source of these concerns is that Mr. Blanche’s labors under an inherent and profound conflict of interest. Before assuming office, he served as President Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney. As Attorney General, his duty is not to any individual, but to the Constitution and the interests of the United States. Yet throughout his tenure, he has repeatedly acted in ways that suggest he continues to view the interests of the President and the interests of the United States as the same. In a constitutional republic, they are not. The Attorney General must be capable of exercising independent judgment even when that judgment is adverse to the interests of the President. Mr. Blanche has repeatedly demonstrated the opposite.
His conduct has also reflected a troubling willingness to disregard the authority of federal courts and the judiciary itself. At a time when courts serve as one of the principal constitutional checks on executive power, Mr. Blanche has repeatedly challenged, ignored, or sought to circumvent judicial scrutiny of Executive Branch actions. Most recently, his conduct surrounding the so-called IRS “slush fund” litigation has raised serious questions regarding compliance with judicial directives and the Department’s obligation of candor to the courts. More broadly, he has contributed to a climate in which judicial decisions adverse to the Administration are treated not as binding constitutional judgments but as political obstacles to be overcome. Such conduct is fundamentally inconsistent with the Attorney General’s duty to uphold and defend the rule of law.
Mr. Blanche has also played a central role in directing, approving, and defending prosecutions that appear motivated not by evidence and law, but by the personal and political interests of the President. Federal courts have already questioned the legitimacy of some of these actions, while experienced career prosecutors have resigned rather than participate in proceedings they regarded as unethical, unsupported by the facts, or inconsistent with the Department’s long-standing standards. The Department of Justice exists to enforce the law impartially. It cannot function when prosecutorial power is employed as a political weapon.
Equally troubling is Mr. Blanche’s apparent role in obstructing transparency required by law concerning the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Congress enacted legislation requiring the disclosure of significant materials relating to those matters. Yet under Mr. Blanche’s leadership, the Department has delayed disclosures, resisted transparency, and continued extensive redactions despite clear statutory obligations. Given Mr. Blanche’s longstanding personal and professional relationship with President Trump, and given the obvious public interest in those materials, his actions raise profound concerns regarding whether he has faithfully executed the law or instead sought to protect political interests from scrutiny.
Mr. Blanche has also sought to shield government attorneys and Department officials from the independent ethical oversight that has long been a cornerstone of the legal profession. His efforts to interfere with state bar disciplinary processes and to insulate federal attorneys from accountability further demonstrate a belief that government officials loyal to the Administration should operate under a different set of rules than those that govern ordinary lawyers and citizens. Such a position is fundamentally incompatible with the principle that no person is above the law.
The consequences extend far beyond questions of legal ethics. Under Mr. Blanche’s leadership, the Department has experienced a significant loss of experienced career attorneys and prosecutors, many of whom concluded that they could no longer faithfully discharge their professional obligations. That exodus has weakened the government’s capacity to combat terrorism, foreign influence operations, cyber threats, corruption, organized crime, and other dangers to the nation’s security. It has diminished institutional expertise accumulated over decades and undermined the credibility of the Department before federal courts, state bars, and the American public. These are not merely personnel issues. They are national security concerns.
Taken together, these actions reveal more than poor judgment. They reveal a pattern of lawlessness. The Attorney General is entrusted with enforcing the law, defending the Constitution, respecting judicial authority, and ensuring that federal power is exercised within legal limits. Mr. Blanche’s record instead demonstrates a willingness to evade legal constraints, ignore ethical obligations, challenge judicial authority, and employ the immense powers of the Department of Justice in service of political objectives. Such conduct is incompatible with the responsibilities of the office.
The danger is magnified because the Attorney General oversees institutions possessing extraordinary coercive powers. An Attorney General willing to place personal loyalty above constitutional duty does not merely threaten the integrity of the Department of Justice. He threatens the independence of the FBI, the lawful functioning of the Intelligence Community, and the constitutional safeguards that protect Americans from the abuse of state power.
The Steady State believes that safeguarding democratic institutions requires leaders whose loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law. Mr. Blanche’s record demonstrates the opposite. Indeed, his nomination raises the very concern that The Steady State has warned about repeatedly: the gradual transformation of the nation’s security services from protectors of the constitutional order into instruments for the elevation and protection of a political leader.
For these reasons, we strongly urge the Judiciary Committee to reject the nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General of the United States.
Respectfully,
Steven A. Cash
Executive Director
The Steady State
212.685.9660
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