President Trump’s nominee for attorney general will likely squeak by in his Senate confirmation, after securing key support from Sen. Bill Cassidy.
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The Louisiana Republican said he’s spoken multiple times with Todd Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general and has faced an uphill battle in his nomination process.
“I’ll be criticized for this vote,” Cassidy said in remarks Friday from the Senate floor. “What’s new?”
Cassidy acknowledged concerns over Blanche’s judgment in exempting the president from IRS audits and said he was particularly troubled by the Department of Justice bringing suits against the president’s perceived political enemies.
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“A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law, degrades the public’s trust in our institutions, and makes our politics more extreme,” he said.
Cassidy, who’s been increasingly vocal about opposition to the administration after he lost his renomination bid to a Trump-backed challenger, said that his decision is not a referendum on the president.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
Cassidy’s support is a major win for the White House.
His announcement came on the heels of fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announcing she would not support Blanche’s nomination.
With the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Murkowski’s opposition, Cassidy’s vote is crucial in securing a glidepath for Blanche.
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“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said in a statement on X on Friday. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Murkowski said she has concerns about the “sweeping immunity protections granted to the president” and what she called the “politicization—even weaponization” of the Department of Justice.
She said another factor in her decision was the anti-weaponization fund, which the Trump administration initially said would be available to those who allege wrongdoing by the federal government. Blanche told members of Congress in June that the controversial fund was scrapped, and formally rescinded it earlier this week.
“I am also keenly aware that the Department’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage,” she said. “Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”
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GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – both of whom are leaving Congress – initially held up the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Blanche’s nomination, demanding written assurances that the fund was indeed dead. Blanche provided that written statement on Aug. 2.
Murkowski joins Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in announcing her opposition to Blanche.
Blanche has been working to assuage the concerns of GOP senators, traveling to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and even taking a trip to Murkowski’s state to meet with local and tribal leaders.
He was hired by Trump as his personal attorney in 2023 to defend him from charges over hush money payments, attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, and the mishandling of classified documents.
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