WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced Friday he will vote for President Donald Trump’s pick of Todd Blanche for attorney general, likely assuring his confirmation.
“All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche. I’ll be criticized for this vote. What’s new?” Cassidy said in a floor speech after outlining concerns he said he weighed.
Cassidy’s decision is likely to be decisive in helping Blanche get confirmed to the powerful job.
While he’s “concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare,” Cassidy said, “even critics admit that Mr. Blanche knows the law and is a hands-on administrator.”
Republicans need support from 50 of their 53 senators to confirm Blanche.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, came out Friday against Blanche, joining fellow centrist Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to oppose the president’s choice. With Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., out indefinitely, and Democrats expected to vote no, a third GOP opponent would have blocked the nomination.
Despite the “numerous constructive meetings” she’s had with Blanche, Murkowski said in a statement, “I will oppose his nomination.”
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case,” she said.
Murkowski also warned of the “politicization” and “even weaponization” of the Justice Department, which she said has accelerated under the Trump administration.
The senator cited the Justice Department’s handling of the release of files in the case of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and questioned whether the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which she called a “slush fund” in her announcement, would remain off the table.
A McConnell spokesperson didn’t respond to a message seeking comment Friday about how he would vote if he were able to be present and cast a vote.
The retiring Kentucky senator is not a guaranteed proponent on Blanche; he has voted against some high-profile Trump nominees, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
In an interview with Punchbowl News on Thursday, before Murkowski’s announcement, Trump lashed out against the moderate GOP senator.
“Murkowski, I was against. I’m against Murkowski,” he said in the interview, released Friday. “I do more for Alaska than any any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s she’s not good.”
Blanche, the acting attorney general, has already faced a bumpy confirmation process after Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., both withheld their support for the nomination over their concerns about his leadership at the Justice Department.
Cornyn and Tillis had expressed concerns about the fund, which was intended to compensate alleged victims of politically motivated prosecutions. The fund was created as part of Trump’s settlement with the IRS over a leak of his tax records. The settlement also included a guarantee that he and his family business would be sheltered from tax audits.
The senators had sought written assurances that the fund would be rescinded and the scope of the audit immunity clarified, which Blanche ultimately provided. Tillis had also insisted that Blanche meet with Epstein survivors, which he had previously not agreed to do.
After Blanche’s contentious confirmation hearing last month, during which Tillis and other senators aired their concerns about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case, the acting attorney general did meet privately with a group of victims. Epstein survivor Dani Bensky told NBC News, however, that the meeting was “not productive” or “substantive,” while Blanche described it in opposite terms.
Democrats have denounced the Justice Department’s failure to redact personal information about the survivors, but not that of people who may have participated in their abuse. They have also raised concerns the “anti-weaponization” fund is not dead and that loopholes exist to resurrect it.
