It is a foregone conclusion that whoever President Donald Trump nominates as attorney general will face a spirited confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate and will almost certainly be confirmed by a handful of votes.
"I have confidence in President Trump to make a selection that will fight for all Americans," Michael Thielen, executive director of the Republican Lawyers Association, told Newsmax soon after the president announced Thursday afternoon that Attorney General Pam Bondi was leaving.
He added: "I further believe that Democrats will accuse whoever Trump picks of lacking 'independence' which is rich — as Eric Holder called himself Obama's 'wingman' and Merrick Garland weaponized the Department of Justice to go after Biden political rivals from Trump to [traditional Roman] Catholics."
Among the names immediately mentioned for the nation's top legal office were Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.
Also being discussed as a prospective attorney general is Trey Gowdy, a former South Carolina congressman and a Trump favorite in his subsequent role as a Fox News commentator.
Also beginning to be discussed as a potential attorney general is stalwart conservative Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The son of Ronald Reagan's solicitor general, Rex Lee, and a two-time law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Lee was seriously considered for the Supreme Court in 2018 and as attorney general following Trump's 2024 election.
For now, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as acting attorney general until an appointee for the office is named. White House sources signaled Blanche was unlikely to be nominated for the top job because of his closeness to the president as a one-time personal lawyer, which would likely come under intense scrutiny in confirmation hearings.
But seasoned historians and political scientists agree that, no matter how contentious a nomination battle might become, Trump must name someone close to him who understands the Justice Department well, or career lawyers opposed to the president will gain the upper hand.
The precedent frequently cited is that of Richard Nixon at the beginning of the Watergate scandal in 1973.
"During Watergate, one of the things that most harmed President Nixon was when his nominee for Attorney General, Richard Kleindienst, effectively agreed to recuse himself from Watergate during his 1972 confirmation hearing — since some of his friends and associates were involved," Chapman University Prof. Luke Nichter, author of the critically acclaimed book "1968: The Year That Broke Politics," told Newsmax. "When Watergate became damaging for Nixon beginning in the late spring of 1973, Kleindienst recused himself when Nixon most needed someone strong to manage the Department of Justice."
Kleindienst resigned later that year and was replaced by Republican Elliot Richardson, who supported the appointment of special prosecutor Archibald Cox and resigned in protest rather than follow the president's order to fire him.
Nichter added: "Trump can be unpredictable, but he might really benefit from a selection like [former Attorney General] William Barr – someone above reproach who can organize a complicated bureaucracy while giving the President the advice he needs."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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