The White House sent President Donald Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general to the Senate on Monday, setting up what is expected to be a closely watched confirmation battle for the president’s longtime attorney.

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent legal defenders during the president’s criminal cases following his first term in office. He served as lead defense counsel in Trump’s New York hush-money trial and represented him in several other high-profile legal matters before joining the Justice Department after Trump returned to the Oval Office.