> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.workersrights.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Attorney General Todd Blanche says DOJ is Stephen Miller's lawyer. No subpoena exists yet. - URL: https://www.workersrights.news/blanche-says-doj-is-stephen-miller-lawyer-garcia-oversight/ - Published: 2026-11-07T02:13:58.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T02:13:58.000Z - Description: "It's me and the entire Department of Justice," Blanche said after Rep. Robert Garcia told Trump's new chief of staff to lawyer up. - Author: WorkersRights.News Team - Tags: Politics, Legal News Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Justice Department will defend Stephen Miller, President Trump's incoming chief of staff, against House Democrats who have promised to investigate him. "Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It's me," Blanche said in a Fox News interview Friday, [NBC News reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/live-blog/trump-congress-midterm-elections-mississippi-alaska-live-updates-rcna607738?ref=workersrights.news). "It's me and the entire Department of Justice." He was answering Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is in line to chair the House Oversight Committee when Democrats take the House majority in January. After Trump announced Friday that Miller will replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff starting Monday, Garcia said Miller "should lawyer up." "Oversight Democrats will continue to investigate Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts," Garcia said in a statement, [CBS News reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/midterm-election-results-2026-democrats-house-senate-trump/?ref=workersrights.news). Blanche told Fox it was "so disgusting to see them not even wait till the week is out before actually laying their cards on the table," and said Garcia posted his warning "minutes" after Miller was promoted, according to NBC. ### The government's lawyer, or Miller's? The Justice Department's lawyers represent the United States. Its rule for defending individual officials, [28 C.F.R. § 50.15](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/50.15?ref=workersrights.news), lets the department represent a federal employee who is sued, subpoenaed or charged personally, including in congressional proceedings. That help comes with conditions: the conduct must reasonably appear to fall within the employee's job, and the attorney general or a designee must decide that representation is in the interest of the United States. The rule also bars department lawyers from representing an employee who is the subject of a federal criminal investigation into the same acts. So the official who decides whether the department defends Miller is Blanche. He announced his answer before any subpoena exists. Democrats don't get the committee's subpoena power until the new Congress convenes in January, [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/06/robert-garcia-trump-congress-oversight-investigations.html?ref=workersrights.news). Under the rule, representation is a case-by-case decision that starts with a written request, not a standing promise. White House staff are typically represented by White House counsel, not the Justice Department, when a matter involves their official duties, NBC noted. Before joining the department, Blanche was Trump's personal defense lawyer in several cases, including the New York hush money trial, [NPR reported](https://www.npr.org/2024/11/14/g-s1-34264/trump-blanche-deputy-attorney-general-bove-sauer?ref=workersrights.news) when Trump picked him for deputy attorney general in 2024. ### What Democrats plan Garcia told reporters this week that he will pursue four investigations in the new term: what he calls the "Trump Crime Family," abuses at ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, corporate corruption and the Epstein files, NBC reported. He named Miller as a target. His election-night post set the tone: "Oversight Democrats are ready to take on the crooks, the con men and the Trump crime family. Lawyer up," [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/06/robert-garcia-trump-congress-oversight-investigations.html?ref=workersrights.news). [Read our story on that night's results](https://www.workersrights.news/democrats-win-senate-full-control-congress-garcia-lawyer-up/). House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller "a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist" and wrote, "Fire him today," NBC reported. The White House has dismissed the planned investigations as politically motivated, according to CNBC. ### What's next Miller takes over as chief of staff Monday. Democrats take control of the House Oversight Committee, and its subpoena power, when the new Congress is sworn in in January. For working families, the ICE and DHS investigation is the one to watch: it is the inquiry Garcia has tied most directly to Miller, and it would test whether the Justice Department follows through on Blanche's promise. ### Sources - [Live updates: Trump taps Stephen Miller to be new chief of staff](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/live-blog/trump-congress-midterm-elections-mississippi-alaska-live-updates-rcna607738?ref=workersrights.news) (NBC News) - [2026 midterm election live updates as Trump announces White House shakeup](https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/midterm-election-results-2026-democrats-house-senate-trump/?ref=workersrights.news) (CBS News) - [Top House Oversight Democrat warns Trump family to 'lawyer up'](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/06/robert-garcia-trump-congress-oversight-investigations.html?ref=workersrights.news) (CNBC) - [28 C.F.R. § 50.15, Representation of federal officials and employees by Department of Justice attorneys](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/50.15?ref=workersrights.news) (Cornell Legal Information Institute) - [Trump picks his lawyer, Todd Blanche, as deputy attorney general](https://www.npr.org/2024/11/14/g-s1-34264/trump-blanche-deputy-attorney-general-bove-sauer?ref=workersrights.news) (NPR)