Putting 'Professionals' in Charge

Susan Estrich on Jun 13, 2026

I'm not one to generally quote Senate Majority Leader John Thune as my authority on Cabinet appointees, but when it came to Bill Pulte -- the housing chief with no national security experience who was President Donald Trump's first choice for Director of National Intelligence -- he was right to express concern. Pulte has no business in that job. The only reason he was appointed in the first place is that he has used his position to attack Trump's enemies, scouring their mortgage applications looking to make a federal case.

What Thune said that stuck with me was not simply that he had no experience, but citing the experience he had. He said that the national intelligence director's job shouldn't be "weaponized" and should be led by "professionals."

Hear, hear, Senator Thune. What about de-weaponizing the Justice Department and letting the professionals there do their jobs?

Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas -- all of whom are leaving the Senate -- also expressed concerns about Pulte. Will they express similar concerns about Trump's choice of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General?

There is no question that under Blanche's active leadership, the Justice Department has been weaponized not only to pursue Trump's agenda but to punish his enemies. His confirmation hearings and the vote on his confirmation provide a rare opportunity for a mid-term correction of course by the Justice Department.

According to press reports and insiders, the Department is in shambles, suffering from a mass exodus of talented lawyers and leaders (who didn't think they were signing up for political jobs, and mostly didn't want to be) and plunging morale. The presumption that used to favor the government in federal court has been dramatically lost in the excuses and mistakes that have resulted. The lawyers are overworked and overwrought, finding themselves in impossible situations in court.

Grand juries, notoriously compliant with prosecutors (the saying goes that a good prosecutor can convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich), are saying no to high-profile revenge prosecutions and immigration overreactions, which have the effect of undermining respect for the rule of law.

You couldn't find someone better qualified to weaponize the Justice Department than Todd Blanche. He is in the position he is because he was Trump's personal lawyer and because his so-called boss, Pam Bondi, reportedly did not move aggressively enough against Trump's enemies. The havoc wreaked on the Justice Department was not enough for him. Left to his own devices, the future looks grim.

But Blanche is not left to his own devices -- not if he wants to be confirmed -- which will take the votes of Senators who owe nothing to Trump and may yet lose their re-election (Susan Collins of Maine) because of their ties to him. Congress has not exactly distinguished itself by standing up to Trump's weaponization of the federal government. But the revolt over the $1.8 billion slush fund and the reversal of course on the Pulte nomination signal that the closing months of this Congress might yet be different.

Both Senator Thom Tillis (one of the Republican leaders of the fight against the $1.8 billion fund, who is retiring) and Senator John Cornyn (who, along with Bill Cassidy, can thank Trump for having lost his primary) are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Blanche this summer. Tillis railed against the fund as "politically tone deaf" and a "payout pot for punks." As for Cornyn, he told reporters this week, "I'm interested in hearing how he (Blanche) would approach the job, because he was President Trump's lawyer at one time, but if he's AG, he won't be the president's lawyer."

The nomination of Todd Blanche is an opportunity for the Senate Judiciary Committee to insist on a mid-course correction in the weaponization of the Justice Department. The Committee's oversight of the Justice Department has been woefully lacking, and now is the time -- and now they have the leverage -- to do something about it.

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