Todd Blanche stood behind a podium at the Justice Department on Tuesday and told a room full of reporters that nobody knows why Pam Bondi is gone. His exact words: "Nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general, and I am the acting attorney general, except for President Trump." He said this out loud. Into microphones. On camera.
And the press treated it like a scandal.
Todd Blanche quote: "Nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general... except for President Trump."
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Let me reframe this for you, because the framing you received was designed to make you feel outraged. A president replaced a member of his own cabinet. The new person in charge confirmed the president made the decision. That is the entire factual record. Everything else you read today is an emotional reaction dressed up as analysis.
You Were Never Entitled to an Explanation
At Issue
Presidents have fired cabinet members without explanation since 1795. The expectation of a public justification is a modern invention, not a constitutional requirement.
Presidents fire cabinet members. They have done it since George Washington dismissed Edmund Randolph as Secretary of State in 1795 over suspected French influence. Andrew Jackson fired his entire cabinet in 1831. Nobody convened a panel discussion. Lincoln replaced attorneys general twice. FDR burned through cabinet members the way most people burn through streaming subscriptions.
At Issue
Blanche confirmed investigations continue against individuals Trump "believes should be investigated," calling it the president's "right" and "duty."
The Constitution gives the president appointment power. The Senate confirms. The president can remove. This arrangement has survived 250 years of republic. It survived without a press conference explaining the reasoning.
New fraud enforcement division launched under Colin McDonald, a veteran prosecutor confirmed by the Senate last month.
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But here we are in 2026, and the question put to Blanche at his first presser was whether Bondi lost her job because she failed to bring criminal cases against Trump's political enemies. Read that question again. A reporter asked the acting attorney general whether the previous attorney general was fired for insufficient political persecution. The reporter asked this as though it were a reasonable baseline for how the Justice Department operates.
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Create Free AccountWatch What Blanche Did, Not What the Headlines Said
Blanche did not dodge. He answered a different, better question. He confirmed that thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions continue across the country. He confirmed that some involve individuals the president believes should face scrutiny. Then he said something that every honest attorney general in history has said in different words: "That is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that."
The press wants you to read that as a threat. I want you to read it as a job description. The president directs the executive branch. The attorney general runs the Justice Department under the president's authority. If the president believes certain individuals warrant investigation, telling his AG to look into it is governance. Refusing to do so because the targets are politically connected is the actual corruption.
Blanche also announced a new fraud enforcement division led by Colin McDonald, a veteran prosecutor the Senate confirmed last month. He used his first public appearance to talk about fighting fraud. The coverage buried this under paragraphs of speculation about Bondi.
The Loyalty Frame Is the Real Manipulation
When reporters asked Blanche if he wanted the permanent nomination, he gave an answer that critics will mock and supporters will praise. "If President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that's an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that's an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and I go back to being the DAG, that's an honor."
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Learn moreThe intended read: Blanche is a sycophant. The actual read: Blanche serves at the pleasure of the president and has no illusions about the chain of command. You can dislike the tone. You cannot fault the constitutional accuracy.
The people who find this disturbing are the same people who spent four years insisting that cabinet members should defy presidential directives they disagree with. Pick a lane. Either the president runs the executive branch or cabinet secretaries run independent fiefdoms. You do not get both depending on which president occupies the office.
What Normal Governance Looks Like
A president made a personnel decision. The new appointee held a press conference about policy. Investigations continue. A new anti-fraud division launched. The machinery of government kept running. That is Tuesday. That is what governance looks like when you strip away the performance of outrage.
The real question is not why Bondi was replaced. The real question is why you believed you were owed a reason. The president does not report to you on staffing decisions. He reports to you on results. Judge those.
