Conservative Washington Post columnist George F. Will is publicly calling on Senate Republicans to reject the confirmation of Todd Blanche as permanent U.S. attorney general, arguing that the Senate's advice-and-consent role demands greater independence from presidential deference.

Blanche, currently serving as acting attorney general under President Donald Trump, faces a Senate confirmation vote in which swing-state Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) has already announced he will vote "no." If Democrats unify in opposition, even a small number of Republican defections could jeopardize the nomination. Cabinet confirmations are decided by senators exercising the Constitution's advice-and-consent function, making Will's argument as much about Senate institutional independence as about Blanche himself.

In a Friday column published in the Washington Post, Will — a prominent Never Trump conservative — posed the central question of his argument: "What benefit of norms is owed to someone who disdains norms?"

"There are many sufficient reasons to oppose confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general," Will wrote. "Presidents generally are owed some deference in selecting Cabinet members, but 'some' implies limits, lest the Senate's advice-and-consent duty be drained of responsibility. And not all presidents are equally owed. Today's president is owed little, given his contempt for the unwritten rules of civility that can lubricate a congenial society's governance."

Will argued that Senate Republicans have too readily confirmed Trump's cabinet picks, suggesting that just four GOP senators acting independently could have blocked several high-profile nominations.

"If, at most, four Republican senators had, in committee or floor votes, behaved as independently as the Founders thought senators would, (Pam) Bondi, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others would not have been confirmed to offices far above their competences," Will wrote.

Will was particularly scathing about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stating: "Children probably have died of measles, and of hepatitis B passed from mothers to infants, because of vaccine hesitancy promoted by Kennedy, who lied when he promised not to indulge in such quackery if confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services."

Regarding Blanche specifically, Will noted what he characterized as a lukewarm endorsement from former Attorney General William Barr, published in the Wall Street Journal. Barr wrote that Blanche "will run the Department (of Justice) as effectively as anyone could under President Trump" — a statement Will described as an "embarrassingly backhanded" endorsement.

"Is this sufficient reassurance for Republican senators?" Will asked. "Or will, at last, a nominee trigger their gag reflexes?"

The attorney general is the Cabinet official responsible for leading the Department of Justice, so confirmation debates often turn not only on a nominee's qualifications but also on senators' views of how independently the department should operate within a president's administration. Will's column places Blanche's nomination squarely in that broader debate over deference, competence and institutional guardrails.

Will closed with a historical anecdote about the late Sen. Richard Russell (D-Georgia), who reportedly bristled when told he had "served under" six presidents, correcting the speaker to say he "served with" six.

"It will be a pleasant surprise if, concerning Blanche, a few Republican senators become similarly sensitive about those prepositions," Will concluded.

Sen. Fetterman's opposition to Blanche was reported by The Hill.