More than 1,200 former US Justice Department employees have written to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging it to reject Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general. Blanche, who previously served as Donald Trump's personal attorney and is currently Deputy Attorney General, is being lined up to succeed Pam Bondi, and the intervention matters because it signals significant unease from within the department's alumni ranks just days before his confirmation testimony.

The letter, organised by the DOJ alumni group Justice Connection and signed by former staff spanning fourteen administrations, accuses Blanche of prioritising loyalty to the President over the Constitution. It lists alleged "corruption and abuses" including vindictive prosecutions of Trump's opponents, the erasure of accountability for January 6, the mishandling of the Epstein files and the denigration of judges, but focuses particularly on what it calls his degradation of the department's apolitical career workforce. It was addressed to committee chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Dick Durbin, with Blanche due to testify next week ahead of a planned confirmation vote.