Todd Blanche won’t rule out trying to block states from certifying election results
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U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, in new comments Thursday, did not rule out that the Department of Justice (DOJ) could try to prevent a state from certifying its election results — a process over which the federal government has no authority.
Though Blanche said the department doesn’t intend to improperly interfere in elections, his remarks will add to existing concerns that the Trump administration could try to intervene if results don’t go its way.
Speaking with reporters, Blanche was asked whether DOJ might try to block a state from certifying results.
“Yes. Of course there are scenarios that we could all come up with hypothetically — some doomsday scenario, for example,” he responded. “So I don’t think it’s proper to make any kind of conclusory statements about what’s going to happen in the future because I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. It is not DOJ’s intention — and it’s never our intention — to improperly interfere with elections or the state certification process, but to say that there’s no circumstances that we would ever do that — of course I’m not going to say that.”
“Am I planning my days around the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not, no,” he added.
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States and Congress have authority for running elections, but the federal government has no role in the process of state certification of election results.
In his July confirmation hearing, Blanche drew fire for avoiding any commitment to not deploy immigration agents at the polls, instead vaguely affirming that he will “follow the law.” In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin similarly left open the possibility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could make arrests at the polls.
After Blanche’s July statement, a dozen Democratic senators warned Mullin, Blanche and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that any attempts to deploy agents are illegal.
“Senior Trump administration officials have repeatedly refused to rule out deploying federal law enforcement officers at November 2026 mid-term election polling places and other election sites, despite such action being illegal under federal law,” the Democratic senators wrote.