President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche took a key step on Tuesday towards becoming the top US law enforcement officer after a Senate panel approved his nomination to head the Justice Department.

The 12-10 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee was along party lines and came after two Republican senators dropped their opposition to Blanche’s nomination. Blanche’s Senate confirmation had been held up by concerns from senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis over a $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of politically motivated prosecution and a tax audit immunity deal with the Republican president.

Blanche issued a written order over the weekend scrapping the so-called “anti-weaponization fund” and said the audit immunity agreement with Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization would only apply “retroactively” to past tax years and not future filings.

The full Senate, where Republicans hold a majority, is expected to vote later this week to confirm Blanche as attorney general. He has been serving as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April.

Senate Democrats have been united in their opposition to Blanche amid concerns he has treated the Department of Justice as an extension of the Republican president’s legal team.

“Todd Blanche has no business serving as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer,” Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said before Tuesday’s vote.

“The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s lawyer,” Durbin said. “Mr Blanche continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer, treating the Justice Department like a law firm serving one client — the president.”

Vice President JD Vance, in a post on X following the committee vote, said Blanche “will continue to serve the American people and the Trump Administration loyally, and he will make a great Attorney General.”

Blanche has been closely tied to what Democrats have dubbed a “retribution” campaign by the president against his perceived political enemies and he helped negotiate the extraordinary legal settlement between Trump and the government he controls.

The out-of-court settlement stems from Trump‘s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the illegal disclosure of his tax records by an agency contractor.

It proposed immunity from audits for past tax years and a $1.776 billion fund for people who say they were unfairly targeted by the Department of Justice, potentially including Trump supporters convicted over the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Federal judges have separately blocked the fund and condemned the tax settlement, which according to US press reports could help the president avoid past liabilities of up to $100 million.

Blanche has also come in for criticism from victims of Jeffrey Epstein over his handling of the release of investigative files about the convicted sex offender, a one-time close friend of Trump. (AFP)