3 reasons senators must vote no on Todd Blanche

The Attorney General is our nation’s chief law enforcement officer — and is in charge of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The person who holds this role is responsible for defending the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of each and every one of us. 

We need someone in this critical position who can be independent and impartial, and who will work for equal justice for all. Based on his record, Todd Blanche — President Trump’s former criminal defense attorney — is not the right person for this job. 

Here’s why NCJW is opposing the nomination of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General. 

Todd Blanche has attacked our reproductive freedom. 

Blanche — who is currently the Acting Attorney General — has held a senior leadership position at the DOJ since March of 2025. In that time, the Department has taken multiple steps to make it harder for people to access reproductive health care, including: 

• Letting violent protesters who obstruct abortion clinics threaten the safety of people trying to access reproductive health care; 
• Abandoning lawsuits against hospitals that refused to provide emergency abortion care; and 
• Firing four Assistant US Attorneys who led prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE Act), a law designed to protect patients and health care providers from violence and harassment at reproductive health care clinics.

Confirming Blanche could also threaten the future of medication abortion access. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is actively calling on Blanche to clear the way for restrictions on access to mifepristone, one of the medications widely used in medication abortion. If confirmed, Blanche would have the power to do exactly what Senator Hawley is asking for — and more. 

Todd Blanche has undermined the safety of our communities.

Under Blanche’s leadership, first as Deputy Attorney General and then as Acting Attorney General, the DOJ has decimated its Civil Rights Division — the department responsible for protecting crucial civil rights protections and hate crime laws. 

The DOJ has also made the Jewish community and other targeted communities less safe — at a time when hate crimes are at record high levels. The DOJ terminated hundreds of grants dedicated to preventing violence and addressing hate crimes, tried to eliminate the office responsible for building community collaboration to prevent hate, and defended President Trump’s proposed budget that zeroed out funding for the three largest hate crime prevention grant programs. 

Under Blanche’s leadership, it is clear that both Jewish and other vulnerable communities would be left vulnerable to rising hate crimes and violence. 

Todd Blanche is using the Department of Justice to achieve the Trump administration’s political goals — not protect our communities. 

In Blanche’s time as Acting Attorney General, the DOJ has minimized violent extremism and led attacks on civil rights and anti-hate organizations. Blanche has led the DOJ’s attacks on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and attempted to block its work to advance racial justice and fight white supremacy. Blanche has also pardoned and commuted sentences for violent participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. 

The Attorney General is our nation’s top law enforcement officer. We need someone in that position who will protect the rights and safety of all of us — not condone hate and extremism. 

Todd Blanche is unfit to serve as Attorney General.

We need an Attorney General we can count on to be unquestionably independent. We need someone who will strengthen the protections guaranteed by our democracy, uphold the rule of law, and protect the rights of all of us. 

Todd Blanche’s record is clear: we can’t count on him to be that person — and we can’t let him become our Attorney General. 

On behalf of our 250,000 advocates, NCJW sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee that is considering Blanche’s nomination, calling on senators to reject Blanche’s nomination to be Attorney General. We’ll keep fighting his nomination as it continues through the Senate, working to make sure senators know why Blanche’s record spells danger for our rights and communities. 

Now, our senators need to hear from you. 

It’s time to take action. Call your senators now and tell them to vote no on Todd Blanche for Attorney General.