Todd Blanche

Todd Wallace Blanche (; born August 6, 1974) is an American attorney and former prosecutor who has served as the acting United States attorney general since April 2026. Blanche has also served as the United States deputy attorney general since January 2025 and as the acting librarian of Congress since May 2025; the legality of the latter appointment has been disputed. Blanche graduated from American University in 1994 and from Brooklyn Law School in 2003. He worked in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's violent-crimes division for eight years. In 2017, Blanche became a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. In his personal capacity, he represented several figures associated with president Donald Trump and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, including Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort; the businessman Igor Fruman; and the attorney Boris Epshteyn. In April 2023, prior to his arraignment, Trump hired Blanche to defend him in the District Attorney's Office of New York County's prosecution of the former president over concealed hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels. Blanche later defended him in the federal classified documents and election obstruction cases. He led Trump's defense in his criminal trial. In November 2024, following his victory in the 2024 presidential election, Trump named Blanche as his nominee for deputy attorney general. He was confirmed by the Senate in March 2025. In May, Trump dismissed the librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, and named Blanche to succeed her. The staff of the Library of Congress and Hayden disputed Trump's authority to appoint Blanche without the consent of the Senate, arguing that Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian, was Hayden's lawful successor. After Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general in April 2026, Blanche became her acting successor.