President Donald Trump’s attorney general, Todd Blanche, was confirmed over the weekend despite initial opposition to his nomination from Republican lawmakers including Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Even after Blanche cleared the path to office, a new report says his most difficult challenges may still lie ahead.

“As Blanche assumes his new role, now with the imprimatur of Senate backing, walking a tightrope between satisfying Trump and fulfilling an attorney general’s obligations to the rule of law is likely to only grow more perilous,” The Washington Post’s Jeremy Roebuck reported Sunday. “Over the next several months, the Justice Department is expected to make a number of charging decisions in sensitive cases of keen interest to the president.”

That makes Blanche’s early tenure especially consequential, because the department’s most visible decisions often become the clearest test of how much independence senior Justice Department leaders will keep once in office. Roebuck added that “prosecutors in Florida have been at work for months on what Trump allies have referred to as a ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation of former Obama- and Biden-era officials, including former CIA director John Brennan, who they say engaged in a long-running scheme to violate the president’s civil rights through efforts to undermine his presidency — allegations Brennan denies.”

He continued, “Meanwhile, department investigators continue to seek evidence to back Trump’s unproven assertions that the 2020 election was stolen, that there exist broad left-wing conspiracies to oppose his second-term agenda and that his critics, including former FBI director James B. Comey, deserve to be put in prison.”

If Blanche uses the Justice Department to target Trump’s political opponents, that would conflict with the assurances he reportedly gave Republican lawmakers who had initially been hesitant to support him.

Although Cassidy, Cornyn and Tillis said Blanche assured them he would not allow Trump to politicize the Justice Department, Roebuck noted that “Blanche has repeatedly defended the president’s ‘right’ to intervene in Justice Department business — a significant departure from long-standing norms.” The Post also quoted Blanche as saying, “if we have discussions where we have to talk about a case and whether we’re going to charge a case or whether we have charged a case, that’s okay. I’m not concerned about that.”

Even with those statements, the three Republicans who ultimately backed him said they had been reassured.

“In casting the pivotal votes, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) each said they worried about Blanche’s ability to put the interests of the American people above those of his former client,” Roebuck reported.

He added, “But each said Blanche had provided them with personal assurances that had assuaged their doubts about his ability to effectively counsel Trump when the president’s instincts run contrary to the rule of law.”