Attorney General Blanche is already making Tillis look foolish for supporting him | Opinion
Before voting to confirm Todd Blanche, Sen. Thom Tillis suggested that the new attorney general might help alleviate, not accelerate, the growing politicization of the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.
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Of course, nobody really believed that, perhaps not even Tillis himself. And it only took a few days for Blanche to make Tillis look foolish.
Less than a week after his confirmation, Blanche appeared to join Trump on the campaign trail in Long Island. The event was initially billed as a law enforcement visit to tout declining crime statistics. But by all accounts — and in the president’s own words — it was a partisan rally in support of Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who is running for governor of New York. Blanche spoke highly of Blakeman but stopped short of explicitly endorsing him. It’s highly unusual — not to mention wildly inappropriate — for an attorney general to engage in partisan activities or attend political events.
But Blanche’s disregard for the norms of his office aren’t surprising. In a recent appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Blanche refused to pledge that his Justice Department will act independently of the White House, and said he would “of course” take Trump’s views on individual prosecutions into consideration.
Blanche insists that this approach is perfectly acceptable. To some extent, that’s correct: Blanche and his department are not legally required to be completely independent and apolitical. It’s normal for the president to have some influence over the DOJ’s broader policies and priorities. It’s not normal, however, for the White House to meddle in specific criminal investigations or prosecutions — or for the attorney general to discuss pending cases with the president at all. Since Watergate, presidents have generally kept their distance from the Justice Department and its day-to-day operations in an effort to preserve its integrity. It’s not the law, but it is tradition, and a sacred one at that.
Tillis claims to believe in that tradition. He has stressed the importance of an independent Justice Department and has been critical of politically motivated prosecutions and “political lawfare.” Back in June, Tillis said that “even a whiff of a lack of independence” from Blanche could be disqualifying. In typical fashion, though, those concerns evaporated when it came time for Tillis to stand by them, even as he admitted that the “weaponization” of justice has gotten worse under the Trump administration.
“I’m going to support Mr. Blanche’s nomination,” Tillis said earlier this month, “but what I hope I see out of him is a bending of the curve of this absurdity.”
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But Blanche was never going to be the solution. How could he be, when he is so enthusiastically part of the problem? It has long been obvious that Blanche does not believe his department should be independent of the president, and does not intend to make it so. He has defended Trump’s “right” and “duty” to direct and influence investigations of his political enemies — and has overseen some of those investigations himself. During his confirmation hearing, Blanche responded to questions about his independence by stating that the Justice Department is part of the executive branch, and he is a member of Trump’s cabinet. The writing was on the wall. Tillis ignored it.
When will Tillis learn? Trump’s unqualified, unhinged and unpredictable Cabinet nominees are exactly what they seem. Trump chose them for their weaknesses, not in spite of them, and they aren’t likely to magically change once they get the job. But Tillis accepts their empty promises and makes excuses they don’t deserve, and they prove him wrong every time.
Pete Hegseth’s “unique perspective” was a nice euphemism for his lack of experience, but it turns out it wasn’t a substitute for competence. Tillis concluded that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial views and lack of traditional qualifications would allow him to be a “disruptor,” but he’s actually been a disaster.
There’s still time for Tillis to be proven right about Blanche, but his vote is already aging quite poorly. For that, he has no one to blame but himself.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
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