Blanche: No Attorney General Should Pledge DOJ Independence From White House

Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear Sunday that the Justice Department answers to the American people through their elected president, refusing to pledge that DOJ will always act independently of the White House and saying he will take President Donald Trump's views into account on individual prosecutions.

In his first major Sunday interviews since being confirmed by the Senate, Blanche told NBC's "Meet the Press" that no attorney general should ever promise blanket independence from the president. He also confirmed that the president's perspective carries weight in prosecution decisions -- a stance grounded in the Constitution, which places the Justice Department inside the executive branch under the commander in chief.

No Blanket Pledge of Independence

When host Kristen Welker asked whether he could pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House, Blanche did not hesitate.

"No, I'm not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that," he said.

Pressed on whether Trump should have a voice in individual prosecution decisions, Blanche answered directly: "Yes, of course."

"Will I take the president of the United States' view on something into consideration? Yes, of course," he added. "And I hope every attorney general in history would not answer that question differently."

Dismissing the 'False Narrative'

Blanche pushed back hard on the notion that Trump directs prosecutions by phone call or decree, calling it an "extraordinarily false narrative."

"There's this misnomer about President Trump -- which is that he wakes up in the morning, calls me up, and says 'Todd, go prosecute this.' That's absolutely not the case," Blanche said. "He does not do that. He has never done that. He will never do that."

On Fox News Sunday, he told Shannon Bream that Trump wants honest counsel from his Cabinet, even when it means disagreement. "The president does not expect any of his leaders, including me, to just say yes to him, no matter what he says," Blanche said. He added that Trump would expect him to push back when legal judgment requires it, and that "of course, there's vigorous back and forth" between the president and every Cabinet member.

An Attorney General Who Answers to the People

Blanche -- Trump's former personal defense attorney who served as acting attorney general since April -- was confirmed by the Senate last weekend in a vote that underscored the divide over DOJ's direction. Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, opposed his confirmation over concerns about politicization, while supporters pointed to his pledge to prosecute "without fear or any sort of favor."

The interviews came as Trump publicly called on the Justice Department to revisit the recent dismissal of the Reflecting Pool vandalism case in Washington, D.C. Blanche said he certainly listens when the president speaks to the American people about making the country safer.

His position is consistent with what he has said since taking the helm at DOJ. In April he argued the president has both the right and the duty to influence federal investigations. In May he told Congress the department takes its policy direction from the president. He has also rejected the idea that DOJ is somehow independent from the presidency, noting the Constitution makes the president head of the executive branch.

What This Means for the Justice Department

For critics, Blanche's comments are a warning that the department is fully aligned with the White House. For supporters, they represent a long-overdue restoration of accountability -- an end to the era when federal prosecutors operated as an unaccountable force insulated from voters.

Blanche framed the exchange in simple terms: the president is elected by the American people, and the Justice Department exists to serve them, not to act as an independent fourth branch. Every American, he noted, has a voice in prosecutions -- and that includes the one American voters placed in the Oval Office.

He also pledged integrity in the work itself. "I will act with integrity. Our prosecutors will act with integrity. We will prosecute without fear or any sort of favor," he said.

Watch for Blanche's next moves on high-profile cases as the administration continues reshaping the Justice Department in line with the mandate voters delivered in November.