GDELTNew York
Goldstein: -3.5Tone: -5.8
At 4:31 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, under the cover of darkness, the U.S. Senate confirmed Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the permanent attorney general. The vote was 50 to 49, with all Democrats plus two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting “no,” and the rest of the Republicans who were present voting “yes.” Mitch McConnell of Kentucky missed the vote due to illness.
The confirmation did not directly increase the powers exercised by Blanche. He had added the position of acting attorney general to the post of deputy attorney general held since the beginning of Trump’s second term when the president fired then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. Trump axed Bondi for not prosecuting his political enemies with sufficient aggressiveness.
Nevertheless, the formal elevation of Blanche to head the Department of Justice marks a significant further step in the consolidation of a personalist presidential dictatorship in the United States. It is the latest and perhaps most consequential in a series of moves to staff the top levels of the executive branch with Trump acolytes and purge the government of any and all office holders suspected of harboring doubts about Trump’s policies of escalating war abroad and destruction of democratic rights at home.
On June 29, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that the president of the United States has absolute authority over all agencies of the executive branch, including those explicitly established by Congress with limited independence. Trump can legally hire or fire all federal office holders at will. The court thus upheld the far-right theory of a “unitary executive,” for all intents and purposes transforming the president into a budding Führer.
The collapse of democratic forms of rule is not the product of the megalomaniacal mind of Donald Trump. The elevation of this criminal representative of the New York real estate and gambling mafia to head of state is itself the result of a crisis of American capitalism that has produced a financial oligarchy with unheard of wealth at one pole and an increasingly desperate and rebellious working class at the other. Trump is the agent of this oligarchy, which increasingly supports dictatorship. Democratic forms of rule are incompatible with these underlying social relations.
During his confirmation hearing last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche repeatedly espoused the “unitary executive” conception of presidential powers, essentially reducing the Justice Department to a direct arm of the White House. When Senator Chris Coons (Democrat-Delaware) asked Blanche whether the department was “independent from the White House,” Blanche replied, “Article II of the Constitution gives the power of the executive to President Trump.”
But Blanche’s personal subservience to Trump goes even beyond this general principle. Asked by another senator whether he and Trump were friends, Blanche replied, “I’m his lawyer,” a damning slip of the tongue. He quickly corrected himself, saying, “I was his lawyer.”
In 2023 and 2024, Blanche served as Trump’s lawyer in three cases. In the New York “hush money” case involving a 2016 payment to Stormy Daniels, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Blanche defended Trump in two cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, both of which were dismissed following Trump’s reelection. The first was the federal classified documents case stemming from Trump’s retention of government records at Mar-a-Lago. The second was the federal election obstruction case, in which Trump was charged over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
As deputy and then acting attorney general, Blanche has shielded the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) murderers of pro-immigrant protesters Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, as well as the ICE killers of immigrant workers, including Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, refusing even to charge them.
He has implemented Trump’s NSPM-7 (National Security Presidential Memorandum-7) order declaring left-wing protesters to be “Antifa” terrorists, as seen in the savage sentences, a combined 556 years, handed down against anti-ICE protesters in Prairieland, Texas, the prosecution of 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota and the prosecution of eight anti-genocide protesters at the University of Michigan.
He has aggressively pursued investigations ordered by Trump against former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide from the first term who testified against him in Congress. He has also overseen attempted prosecutions of congressional Democratic critics of Trump.
Blanche has defended Trump’s pardon of the fascists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the election of Joe Biden. Under him, the Department of Justice has been populated with election deniers, including several who worked to overturn the 2020 result.
He has aggressively pursued Trump’s efforts to manipulate or overturn the upcoming mid-term elections. The Justice Department under Blanche has sought voting records from dozens of states, and Blanche has endorsed the deployment of ICE agents outside polling locations.
Ex-Attorney General Bondi put Blanche in charge of the cover-up of the Epstein scandal, and he has diligently fulfilled this task. Compelled by congressional legislation, reluctantly signed into law by Trump, he released millions of pages of files, heavily redacted and carefully scrubbed to remove all evidence of Trump’s involvement in the sex trafficking of teenagers and to conceal the names of corporate oligarchs and politicians serviced by Epstein. At the same time, information was released identifying many of Epstein’s victims.
In July 2025, Blanche interviewed Epstein’s chief accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, over two days, publicizing her denials of any involvement by Trump. Roughly a week later, without any explanation, Maxwell was transferred from her low-security federal prison to a more comfortable minimum-security prison.
At Blanche’s hearing, a number of Republicans who threatened to oppose his confirmation focused on Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies, including the January 6 insurrectionists. They demanded that Blanche supplement his verbal statements that the fund would not go forward with written assurances, which he ultimately supplied. These, however, are not legally binding, and Trump refused to sign them, meaning he could revive the slush fund at any time. Meanwhile, an addendum remains in place barring tax and financial investigations into Trump, his children and his businesses—placing the president’s immediate circle above the law.
The Democrats focused almost entirely on Trump’s slush fund and the Epstein cover-up. They were virtually silent on the trumped-up prosecutions of anti-ICE and anti-genocide protesters and the savage sentences against the Prairieland 22 defendants. They said almost nothing about the violent rampage against immigrant workers, including the ICE and CBP murders, and said just as little about Trump's preparations to rig, block or overturn the upcoming elections. They thereby sought to politically disarm the population and downplay the erection of a presidential dictatorship.
Open article →GDELTMaine
Goldstein: -5.3Tone: -5.8
At 4:31 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, under the cover of darkness, the U.S. Senate confirmed Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the permanent attorney general. The vote was 50 to 49, with all Democrats plus two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting “no,” and the rest of the Republicans who were present voting “yes.” Mitch McConnell of Kentucky missed the vote due to illness.
The confirmation did not directly increase the powers exercised by Blanche. He had added the position of acting attorney general to the post of deputy attorney general held since the beginning of Trump’s second term when the president fired then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. Trump axed Bondi for not prosecuting his political enemies with sufficient aggressiveness.
Nevertheless, the formal elevation of Blanche to head the Department of Justice marks a significant further step in the consolidation of a personalist presidential dictatorship in the United States. It is the latest and perhaps most consequential in a series of moves to staff the top levels of the executive branch with Trump acolytes and purge the government of any and all office holders suspected of harboring doubts about Trump’s policies of escalating war abroad and destruction of democratic rights at home.
On June 29, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that the president of the United States has absolute authority over all agencies of the executive branch, including those explicitly established by Congress with limited independence. Trump can legally hire or fire all federal office holders at will. The court thus upheld the far-right theory of a “unitary executive,” for all intents and purposes transforming the president into a budding Führer.
The collapse of democratic forms of rule is not the product of the megalomaniacal mind of Donald Trump. The elevation of this criminal representative of the New York real estate and gambling mafia to head of state is itself the result of a crisis of American capitalism that has produced a financial oligarchy with unheard of wealth at one pole and an increasingly desperate and rebellious working class at the other. Trump is the agent of this oligarchy, which increasingly supports dictatorship. Democratic forms of rule are incompatible with these underlying social relations.
During his confirmation hearing last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche repeatedly espoused the “unitary executive” conception of presidential powers, essentially reducing the Justice Department to a direct arm of the White House. When Senator Chris Coons (Democrat-Delaware) asked Blanche whether the department was “independent from the White House,” Blanche replied, “Article II of the Constitution gives the power of the executive to President Trump.”
But Blanche’s personal subservience to Trump goes even beyond this general principle. Asked by another senator whether he and Trump were friends, Blanche replied, “I’m his lawyer,” a damning slip of the tongue. He quickly corrected himself, saying, “I was his lawyer.”
In 2023 and 2024, Blanche served as Trump’s lawyer in three cases. In the New York “hush money” case involving a 2016 payment to Stormy Daniels, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Blanche defended Trump in two cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, both of which were dismissed following Trump’s reelection. The first was the federal classified documents case stemming from Trump’s retention of government records at Mar-a-Lago. The second was the federal election obstruction case, in which Trump was charged over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
As deputy and then acting attorney general, Blanche has shielded the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) murderers of pro-immigrant protesters Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, as well as the ICE killers of immigrant workers, including Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, refusing even to charge them.
He has implemented Trump’s NSPM-7 (National Security Presidential Memorandum-7) order declaring left-wing protesters to be “Antifa” terrorists, as seen in the savage sentences, a combined 556 years, handed down against anti-ICE protesters in Prairieland, Texas, the prosecution of 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota and the prosecution of eight anti-genocide protesters at the University of Michigan.
He has aggressively pursued investigations ordered by Trump against former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide from the first term who testified against him in Congress. He has also overseen attempted prosecutions of congressional Democratic critics of Trump.
Blanche has defended Trump’s pardon of the fascists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the election of Joe Biden. Under him, the Department of Justice has been populated with election deniers, including several who worked to overturn the 2020 result.
He has aggressively pursued Trump’s efforts to manipulate or overturn the upcoming mid-term elections. The Justice Department under Blanche has sought voting records from dozens of states, and Blanche has endorsed the deployment of ICE agents outside polling locations.
Ex-Attorney General Bondi put Blanche in charge of the cover-up of the Epstein scandal, and he has diligently fulfilled this task. Compelled by congressional legislation, reluctantly signed into law by Trump, he released millions of pages of files, heavily redacted and carefully scrubbed to remove all evidence of Trump’s involvement in the sex trafficking of teenagers and to conceal the names of corporate oligarchs and politicians serviced by Epstein. At the same time, information was released identifying many of Epstein’s victims.
In July 2025, Blanche interviewed Epstein’s chief accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, over two days, publicizing her denials of any involvement by Trump. Roughly a week later, without any explanation, Maxwell was transferred from her low-security federal prison to a more comfortable minimum-security prison.
At Blanche’s hearing, a number of Republicans who threatened to oppose his confirmation focused on Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies, including the January 6 insurrectionists. They demanded that Blanche supplement his verbal statements that the fund would not go forward with written assurances, which he ultimately supplied. These, however, are not legally binding, and Trump refused to sign them, meaning he could revive the slush fund at any time. Meanwhile, an addendum remains in place barring tax and financial investigations into Trump, his children and his businesses—placing the president’s immediate circle above the law.
The Democrats focused almost entirely on Trump’s slush fund and the Epstein cover-up. They were virtually silent on the trumped-up prosecutions of anti-ICE and anti-genocide protesters and the savage sentences against the Prairieland 22 defendants. They said almost nothing about the violent rampage against immigrant workers, including the ICE and CBP murders, and said just as little about Trump's preparations to rig, block or overturn the upcoming elections. They thereby sought to politically disarm the population and downplay the erection of a presidential dictatorship.
Open article →GDELTWashington D.C.
Goldstein: 4.8Tone: -2.2
WASHINGTON — A bitterly divided Senate narrowly confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general on Saturday, elevating President Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer, who has presided over a Justice Department that has ceded much of its independence to the White House.
Blanche — the No. 2 official at the department who has served as acting attorney general since his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was fired in April — was confirmed after a bruising battle that centered on concerns about his ability and willingness to rein in Trump. But as they have time and again during Trump’s second term, Republicans ultimately swallowed their reservations and fell in line behind the president’s wishes.
The vote was 50-49, with two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joining all the chamber’s Democrats in opposing the nomination. Both said they had fears that the Justice Department had become increasingly political and that Blanche would do little to stop any further erosion of its independence from Trump.
Their dissent briefly cast Blanche’s nomination in doubt given Republicans’ narrow Senate majority. But a third skeptical Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., threw his support to Blanche on Friday, effectively salvaging his bid.
“The choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche,” Cassidy, who lost his reelection bid to a Trump-backed primary challenger this year, said in a speech on the Senate floor. “It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general, who may not run the department effectively under President Trump.”
Murkowski said that she had reached the opposite conclusion.
“The country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she said in a statement. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Blanche, who, on social media, thanked the Senate for staying late, faced a rocky path to confirmation that centered largely on his involvement in an agreement he brokered to settle Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. The deal included lucrative tax immunity protections for the president and his family, and the creation of a $1.8 billion federal fund Trump has championed to pay people who claimed they had been victims of government persecution, potentially including those charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Those issues came to encapsulate broader concerns over the direction of the Justice Department in the Trump era. Critics and former officials have said that Blanche, far from being a moderating force, has demolished safeguards that once ensured departmental independence in leadership roles.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the confirmation as enabling corruption. “Senate Democrats will continue fighting against the Trump administration’s assault on the rule of law and undermining of democratic values,” he posted on social media.
Republican senators were particularly dismayed over the creation of the $1.8 billion fund, and both Collins and Murkowski cited Blanche’s involvement as a reason for opposing his confirmation. They also took issue with the immunity from tax audits given to Trump, two of his sons, and his businesses in the resolution of the IRS lawsuit.
“Mr. Blanche approved an order to shield the president, his sons, and the family business from IRS audits, protections unavailable to other American taxpayers,” Collins, who is running for reelection in a state that Trump lost in 2024, said in a statement this week.
Trump had urged Senate Republicans to swiftly confirm Blanche. But he had also suggested that he would rather postpone the nomination and leave him as acting attorney general indefinitely than give up the immunity protections or commit to killing what he called the “anti-weaponization” fund, which as recently as this week he said he wanted to revive.
The issue has dogged Blanche for weeks. The Judiciary Committee delayed advancing his nomination to the full Senate last week after two Republican senators, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., raised questions about the $1.8 billion fund, which Blanche had said would not move ahead, and the extraordinary immunity from tax audits given to Trump and his businesses in his resolution of the IRS lawsuit.
After days of negotiation, Blanche last Sunday night provided written assurances that the fund was dead and that the immunity for the president would be narrowed, and Cornyn and Tillis dropped their objections.
But while Cornyn and Tillis focused their demands on the terms of the settlement, both Murkowski and Collins made a much broader case that Blanche’s participation in the plan’s creation was itself disqualifying.
Murkowski said that she also worried that Blanche’s commitments could be undone and the fund could too easily be restored after his confirmation, a concern shared by many critics.
“I am also keenly aware that the department’s nearly $2 billion dollar slush fund — which likely would have rewarded Jan. 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.”
She also cited the department’s handling of the release of the Epstein files, which Blanche oversaw. Both Murkowski and Collins, who are supporters of abortion rights, referenced Blanche’s telling anti-abortion groups that he would take a hard line in enforcing the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
In his speech Friday, Cassidy criticized Blanche’s involvement in negotiating the fund and the audit protections, calling it “poor judgment.”
But he said that discussions with Blanche led him to believe that the acting attorney general viewed those decisions as mistakes.
Cassidy said that he had been influenced in part by Trump’s threat to keep Blanche as the acting attorney general indefinitely, effectively ignoring any resistance from Congress. The senator said he believed a Senate confirmation vote would give Blanche “greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for” than he would have if he continued in an acting capacity.
He cited Blanche’s support from William Barr, who served as attorney general during Trump’s first term but resigned rather than promote or investigate the president’s lies about the 2020 election.
Barr, who has established himself as an informal adviser to Blanche, has argued in private meetings with senators that Blanche has the temperament, access and approach to quietly mitigate the president’s demands. Barr’s own efforts to counter Trump were intermittent and had mixed results.
Cassidy, who has become more openly critical of the president since his election defeat in May, said his views about Trump did not factor into his decision about Blanche.
“I have a history with Mr. Trump,” he said, “but that history does not matter one bit.”
Cassidy, a doctor who leads the health committee, faced significant outcry last year after backing Trump’s choice of a vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be the nation’s health secretary, after securing promises from Kennedy that were later broken. That decision may have cost him support with moderate voters in his failed primary campaign.
On Friday, he appeared to grow emotional as he announced his decision on Blanche.
“I’ll be criticized for this vote,” Cassidy said. “What’s new?”
Then he paused to collect himself, his voice growing shaky as he said his constituents could be “assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.”
Hours later, Murkowski said that she respected Cassidy’s decision, knowing “how much time and thought” he had put into it.
“We both have to live with our choices, live with our votes, and trust that we have done the best job that we can,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Open article →NPRUnited States
Tone: 100.0
GOP-controlled Senate delivers win for Trump with Blanche confirmation
GOP-controlled Senate delivers win for Trump with Blanche confirmation
The Senate narrowly confirmed former Trump personal attorney Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General, a major win for the president's approach to keeping the Justice Department close to the White House.
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Before dawn today, the Senate confirmed President Trump's controversial nominee for U.S. attorney general, Todd Blanche, who was previously Trump's personal attorney. That was a major win for the president's approach to keeping the Department of Justice close to the White House.
Also overnight and before they headed home for August recess this morning, the Senate failed to pass a bill on voting restrictions that Trump has demanded. NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt joins us now to talk through this. Hey, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Hello.
SCHMITZ: So let's start with Todd Blanche. This was quite the roller coaster of a confirmation process, wasn't it?
SPRUNT: Yes, it was. He faced a bit of an uphill battle right from the beginning. Before he was acting attorney general and deputy attorney general, as you said, he was Trump's personal attorney...
SCHMITZ: Right.
SPRUNT: ...Representing the president in multiple criminal cases, including on issues of election obstruction and the mishandling of classified documents. And this became a big concern for Democrats - that his personal relationship with the president would color the way that he approaches the job.
Another issue he faced was the so-called anti-weaponization fund, which is the nearly $2 billion fund that was created as part of a settlement with President Trump to end his lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. Senators on both sides of the aisle had concerns about this fund. Many thought it would be a way for January 6 defendants to get a payday. In response to that pushback, Blanche told senators the fund was nixed. And in the lead-up to this vote, he was spending a lot of time on the Hill trying to gain support from key senators.
SCHMITZ: Yeah, which ultimately seems to have worked, right?
SPRUNT: Yes, but a bit of a nail-biter in the end, especially when it came to getting those last few Republican votes he needed. Yesterday, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would oppose his nomination. She said the country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of the administration, and she doesn't have confidence that Blanche can achieve that.
Susan Collins of Maine had already said she'd vote against Blanche, and with Mitch McConnell out, it came down to Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. And there was a bit of a dramatic reveal on the Senate floor when Cassidy explained why he would support Blanche. And he essentially said that he wasn't sure anyone else would be more successful.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BILL CASSIDY: Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this. 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.
SPRUNT: Ultimately, the Senate approved Todd Blanche as America's attorney general in a 50-to-49 vote, the narrowest of margins.
SCHMITZ: Wow. You know, confirming Blanche was a top priority for the Senate, but it wasn't the only thing that kept them working overnight. What else was on their list last night?
SPRUNT: Well, they approved a bill to place sanctions on Russian leaders and oligarchs. That bill also allows for tariffs on countries that are the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas, like China and India - the oil revenue, of course, being critical in funding Russia's military action in Ukraine. The bill was named after the late GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who died last month. He died just a day after visiting Ukraine, where he was championing this exact bill. This passed with strong bipartisan support. The House is on recess as well, so they won't be able to vote on it until they come back next month.
SCHMITZ: OK, so the Senate got a lot done overnight, but they very notably failed to do one thing Trump was demanding they would do - pass a voting restrictions bill. What happened there?
SPRUNT: Yeah, this is a big challenge for the White House and Republican senators because the bill, which would overhaul the country's voting system - it just doesn't have enough support from Republicans to pass. President Trump has said that the Senate should get rid of filibuster rules in order to push the bill past the 60-vote threshold that's usually needed to advance this type of legislation. And that's just not something that most senators are interested in doing. It's kind of like letting the toothpaste out of the tube. It's then really hard to rein it back in.
Last night, Republicans tried to push a slimmer version of the bill down the line, but even that failed to advance. So the issue is on pause for now while everyone goes back home, but I am very sure it will rear its head again come September.
SCHMITZ: That is NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Thanks, Barbara.
SPRUNT: Thank you.
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Open article →BBCUnited States
Goldstein: —Tone: —
Trump's ex-lawyer Todd Blanche narrowly confirmed as US attorney general
- Published
US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Todd Blanche has been narrowly confirmed as attorney general - the nation's top law enforcement official.
The vote brings to an end a lengthy standoff between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration over Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April.
Blanche won confirmation in a 50-49 vote overnight, with two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, joining all Democrats to oppose his nomination.
Senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote, a decision closely watched in Washington given the years of acrimony between the Louisiana Republican and Trump.
After the vote, Blanche said he was "deeply honoured by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me".
Some Republican senators had raised concerns about Blache's handling of the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and his role in establishing Trump's $1.8bn (£1.3bn) "anti-weaponisation" fund.
The fund was planned to provide compensation to individuals who alleged government persecution but critics including Murkowski feared it would go to individuals who were prosecuted for participating in the 6 January attack on Congress in 2021.
Blanche eventually pledged to walk back the fund after blowback from Republican senators during his confirmation hearings.
It remains unclear whether the commitment is legally binding or whether Trump could later persuade Blanche, his former personal attorney, to revive a similar scheme under another name.
The issues surrounding Blanche meant Senators Collins and Murkowski held off from backing Blanche, with the latter citing her lack of confidence in Blanche to "check the worst impulses of this administration".
Murkowski announced on Friday she would oppose Blanche, citing concerns over the "politicisation" of the justice department.
Collins also raised concerns about Blanche's role in settling Trump's $10bn lawsuit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but said he ultimately trusted Blanche to give the president candid legal advice.
Before casting the deciding vote, Cassidy announced that he believed Blanche was the best option the president would put forward.
"This is not a referendum on President Trump, it is a decision regarding Mr Blanche, in very specific circumstances," said Cassidy on Friday. "All considered, I will vote for Mr Blanche."
Cassidy acknowledged Trump is the ultimate decider on the direction of the justice department, but that Senate confirmation would give Blanche "greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for."
During Trump's second impeachment in 2021, Cassidy voted to convict Trump over the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot. The vote did not pass, and when Trump returned to office, he successfully forced Cassidy into retirement by backing a primary challenger for his Louisiana Senate seat earlier this year.
In a post on X, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer expressed concern that Blanche's appointment would be an "excuse on a silver platter to keep up his pervasive, breathtaking corruption".
"Todd Blanche has no intention of stopping Trump's corruption. He advanced his career enabling it," he wrote. "Every senator who voted to confirm him has now branded themselves as an enabler, too."
But most Republicans swiftly celebrated the victory.
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley - chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - wrote on X that Blanche had shown "extraordinary patience, compassion [and] tenacity" throughout the appointment process.
"There's no doubt he's qualified," Grassley wrote.
Blanche was already deputy attorney general when he took up the interim leadership role in April, after Pam Bondi was fired.
Open article →NPRUnited States
Goldstein: —Tone: —
Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general
The Senate voted to confirm Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general, elevating the Justice Department's No. 2 leader and President Trump's former personal lawyer to head the entire 100,000-plus person department.
The Senate vote, early Saturday morning, was 50-49 in favor of Blanche. All Democrats, as well as Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against him.
Blanche overcame a final speedbump on Friday after securing key support from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. With the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Murkowski's opposition, Cassidy's vote was crucial in securing a glidepath for Blanche.
Cassidy, who lost his renomination bid to a Trump-backed challenger, 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. But he said his decision to back Blanche was not a referendum on the president.
"Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this," Cassidy said on Friday. "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."
Blanche's nomination cleared a series of other hurdles, including concerns from lawmakers of both parties about the department's controversial $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. The fund, created as part of a settlement between Trump and the IRS over the president's leaked tax returns, was meant to compensate people who alleged the federal government had been weaponized against them.
Blanche first verbally promised that the anti-weaponization fund wasn't moving ahead after it faced legal challenges. But two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who are both also leaving Congress — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — said they wanted written assurances the fund was dead, and held up the committee's vote on Blanche's nomination. Blanche provided that written statement on Aug. 2, saying the order establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund "is rescinded and shall have no force or effect."
Cornyn praised Blanche's willingness to work with him and Tillis, and said the DOJ needs a permanent head; Blanche had been serving in an acting capacity after Trump pushed out Pam Bondi.
"President Trump needs someone in this role, as well with a strong legal mind, but who also is close enough to him to give him confidential legal advice to tell him hard truths," Cornyn said before the committee vote. "I would advise Mr. Blanche not to be afraid to capitalize on that earned trust when necessary for the good of the country."
In a second written statement on Aug. 2, the Justice Department clarified the scope of protections from a tax audit that were part of the same Trump-IRS settlement and shielded Trump, his family and his companies from any tax audits or enforcement for prior tax returns. That statement from the DOJ said those audit protections only apply retroactively, and are limited to Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — instead of including a potentially larger, more nebulous group of "affiliated individuals" and companies.
Legal experts and Democrats questioned whether such statements would stand up in court, as they have not been signed by all parties to the settlement, including Trump himself.
"These assurances are not worth the paper they're written on," Brandon DeBot, policy director at the Tax Law Center at NYU Law, told NPR's Ryan Lucas. "They don't pull back on the attempts to give the president and his affiliates unauthorized immunity from tax audits. And they don't do anything new to stop the president from trying to bring back the fund."
In fact, Trump earlier this week said the fund would have been "very fair" and could have given "some solace" to Trump supporters who were prosecuted for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol.
"I view that fund as a positive, and a lot of Republicans do too," the president told reporters.
Background as Trump's personal attorney
Justice Department veterans, legal experts, and some members of Congress have also criticized other facets of Blanche's leadership of the DOJ as well as his fitness to be attorney general.
"Todd Blanche claims he was Donald Trump's personal attorney but is continuing to act as if he's still Donald Trump's personal attorney," Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, told NPR's Steve Inskeep. "The American people deserve better."
Trump hired Blanche as his personal attorney in 2023 to defend him from criminal charges over hush money payments, mishandling classified documents, and attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. After Trump returned to the White House last year, he nominated Blanche as deputy attorney general.
Under Blanche's tenure, the Justice Department pursued Trump's promised campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies. It charged former FBI Director James Comey with making threats against the president in a photo of seashells Comey posted online. It also charged the Southern Poverty Law Center over payments it made to confidential informants to infiltrate extremist groups.
The department has opened an investigation that centers around the lawsuits the writer E. Jean Carroll brought and won against Trump for sexual abuse and defamation.
And the Justice Department's track record in court has also challenged the presumption of regularity: courts' assumption that DOJ officials are acting properly and in good faith, and that they're making accurate factual representations in court.
Under this administration, federal judges have repeatedly expressed concerns about the Trump administration not complying with court orders or providing representations in court that aren't backed by the facts. And the department has also seen several high-profile cases unravel recently, including dropping vandalism charges against a former Olympic canoeist and others over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The Justice Department has defended its track record in court and accused judges of overstepping their authority.
Democrats and some Republicans, including Sen. Tillis, had also been vocal in criticizing Blanche's handling of the scandal around sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanding that Blanche meet with Epstein survivors. Blanche did so for the first time last month to assuage those concerns.
But survivors after the meeting urged the senators to block Blanche's nomination, with one, Annie Farmer, saying she "found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors," according to her July 16 statement.
With assistance from NPR's Ryan Lucas and Barbara Sprunt.
Open article →NBCUnited States
Goldstein: 0.0Tone: 100.0CAMEO 01
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday in a mostly party-line vote, capping off weeks of uncertainty and despite bipartisan concerns about his ability to run a Justice Department independent of President Donald Trump’s impulses.
Blanche, who was formerly Trump’s personal attorney, was confirmed by a vote of 50-49, with only two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting against him along with all Democrats.
The vote was held after 4 a.m. on Saturday, as a late-night session ran over into the early hours ahead of a planned Senate recess.
“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General,” Blanche said in a post on X, adding: “I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process.”
His confirmation had been in jeopardy, largely over concerns about his handling of the so-called anti-weaponization fund, which was established in connection with a purported settlement between private citizen Trump and the federal government he now controls. That fund could have been used to give money to Trump allies who claimed they were victims of government overreach, including people who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Blanche had also signed off on another part of the deal that gave Trump, his family members and his businesses immunity from tax audits.
Earlier Republican holdouts, Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, ultimately backed Blanche after receiving various assurances from the nominee, including an order rescinding the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. (A legal loophole could still revive the fund, however.)
Lawmakers from both parties had also expressed discomfort about Blanche’s personal history with the president.
“The problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can’t do it,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote advancing Blanche’s nomination. “He will never do what’s best for the American people. He will only do what’s best for Donald Trump, and you cannot leave someone like that as the nation’s No. 1 law enforcement official.”
Blanche took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump forced out his predecessor, Pam Bondi. Trump had become frustrated with Bondi over the lack of action from the DOJ against his political foes.
Blanche told NBC News in April, after he took over the Justice Department in an acting capacity, that Americans should be “happy” with Trump’s involvement in the Justice Department’s operations.
Weeks after Bondi’s dismissal, the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey, who is accused of threatening the president’s life by posting a photo of seashells in the shape of “8647” to Instagram.
Critics have questioned whether Blanche will stand up to Trump’s future desires to target his political enemies.
“The biggest concern is whether he is now going to be emboldened to go even more gung-ho on Trump’s campaign of using the Justice Department for retribution,” former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson told NBC News in an interview prior to his confirmation. “There are no guardrails.”
Trump’s attorneys general in his first term also departed under pressure to act on the president’s behalf. Jeff Sessions was forced out after the 2018 midterms in part due Trump’s frustration with his recusal from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an investigation that led to the Mueller report. Former Attorney General William Barr left after Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Open article →GDELTConnecticut
Goldstein: 1.0Tone: -2.1
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday in a mostly party-line vote, capping off weeks of uncertainty and despite bipartisan concerns about his ability to run a Justice Department independent of President Donald Trump’s impulses.
Blanche, who was formerly Trump’s personal attorney, was confirmed by a vote of 50-49, with only two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting against him along with all Democrats.
Stream Connecticut News for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
The vote was held after 4 a.m. on Saturday, as a late-night session ran over into the early hours ahead of a planned Senate recess.
“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General,” Blanche said in a post on X, adding: “I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process.”
His confirmation had been in jeopardy, largely over concerns about his handling of the so-called anti-weaponization fund, which was established in connection with a purported settlement between private citizen Trump and the federal government he now controls. That fund could have been used to give money to Trump allies who claimed they were victims of government overreach, including people who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Blanche had also signed off on another part of the deal that gave Trump, his family members and his businesses immunity from tax audits.
Earlier Republican holdouts, Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, ultimately backed Blanche after receiving various assurances from the nominee, including an order rescinding the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. (A legal loophole could still revive the fund, however).
Lawmakers from both parties had also expressed discomfort about Blanche’s personal history with the president.
Politics
“The problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can’t do it,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote advancing Blanche’s nomination. “He will never do what’s best for the American people. He will only do what’s best for Donald Trump, and you cannot leave someone like that as the nation’s No. 1 law enforcement official.”
Blanche took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump forced out his predecessor, former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump had become frustrated with Bondi over the lack of action from the DOJ against his political foes.
Blanche told NBC News in April, after he took over the Justice Department in an acting capacity, that Americans should be “happy” with Trump’s involvement in the Justice Department’s operations.
Weeks after Bondi’s dismissal, the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey, who is accused of threatening the president’s life by posting a photo of seashells in the shape of “8647” to Instagram.
Critics have questioned whether Blanche will stand up to Trump’s future desires to target his political enemies.
“The biggest concern is whether he is now going to be emboldened to go even more gung-ho on Trump’s campaign of using the Justice Department for retribution,” former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson told NBC News in an interview prior to his confirmation. “There are no guardrails.”
Trump’s attorneys general in his first term also departed under pressure to act on the president’s behalf. Jeff Sessions was forced out after the 2018 midterms in part due Trump’s frustration with his recusal from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an investigation that led to the Mueller report. Former Attorney General William Barr left after Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Open article →GDELTNew Mexico
Goldstein: 2.4Tone: -5.6
Who is Todd Blanche, Trump's controversial ex-lawyer is now US attorney general
Blanche, who has represented Trump in several criminal cases, said he was 'deeply honoured' by the trust and confidence placed in him by the US President.
US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Todd Blanche was on Saturday confirmed as the US attorney general in a close vote by the senate. Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since April, when Pam Bondi was fired from the role.
Brushing aside the Democrats' concerns over politicisation of the Department of Justice, Blanche was confirmed by 50 votes to 49 in the US Senate narrowly dominated by the Republicans.
ALSO READ: Blanche confirmed as attorney general on tight Senate vote
Blanche, who has represented Trump in several criminal cases, said he was "deeply honoured" by the trust and confidence placed in him by the US President. "I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process. To the dedicated public servants of the Department of Justice, thank you for your work each day to uphold the law and keep our country safe," Blanche wrote on X.
Who Is Todd Blanche
According to the official page of the US DOJ, Todd Blanche began his career at the department and has served in various capacities over fifteen years. He has previously held the positions of a contractor, and a paralegal in the Criminal Division. Blanche also served at the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, where he went on to assume the roles of an AUSA and later a supervisor.
Blanche has also worked as a defense attorney, representing Donald Trump in criminal cases in 2023 and 2024. In one of the most controversial cases, he was Trump's attorney during the New York trial over alleged "hush money" paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
ALSO READ: Todd Blanche hit with lawsuit over Jeffrey Epstein probe; New Mexico alleges DOJ 'obstructed' case
Trump appointed Todd Blanche as the Deputy Attorney General after his return to the White House in 2025.
Born on August 6, 1974, Blanche is married to Kristine and has two children.
Why Todd Blanche's Appointment Is Controversial
Critics of Todd Blanche have accused him of eroding the US Justice Department's independence through actions seen as politically motivated. The department allegedly attempted to pursue criminal charges against senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, raising concerns about the misuse of federal law-enforcement powers against political opponents.
Under Blanche's leadership, the DOJ has been accused of pursuing "weak" cases against figures, including James Comey, Letitia James and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
He drew scrutiny over a Justice Department deal that could provide tax immunity to Trump, his sons and his businesses, with senators questioning its scope.
Blanche also came under fire for the alleged botched release of Jeffrey Epstein files, including improper redactions and the exposure of victims' identities. He was also criticised for initially refusing to meet survivors.
Further, Blanche reportedly promised anti-abortion advocates that the DOJ would seek to make abortion restrictions permanent across every state.
- ABOUT THE AUTHORAkanksha Verma
Akanksha Verma is an Associate Editor at the Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With an experience of over a decade, she has led newsrooms operations and worked on digital content strategies. She is adept at covering breaking news situations and holds expertise in doing long-form explainers on national, political and geopolitical issues. Akanksha has previously worked with The Times Of India, Indian Express Online, News18.com, India Ahead and The Daily Jagran. She has written on key national and global events, including the Lok Sabha Elections, Assembly Elections, US Elections, US-Iran war, Operation Sindoor, Israel-Palestine conflict, Afghanistan conflict, Ram Temple verdict, Ladakh standoff, Abrogation of Article 370 and Demonetisation. She holds a BA (Hons) in English from Ramjas College, University of Delhi, and a Postgraduate Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal, Odisha. She is proficient in both English and Hindi and has earned a beginner-level certification in Korean. Beyond her newsroom responsibilities, Akanksha enjoys reading books that explore gender and social issues. She also turns to poetry as a creative outlet, writing verses whenever inspiration strikes.Read More
Open article →GDELTWashington D.C.
Goldstein: 2.4Tone: -5.6
Who is Todd Blanche, Trump's controversial ex-lawyer is now US attorney general
Blanche, who has represented Trump in several criminal cases, said he was 'deeply honoured' by the trust and confidence placed in him by the US President.
US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Todd Blanche was on Saturday confirmed as the US attorney general in a close vote by the senate. Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since April, when Pam Bondi was fired from the role.
Brushing aside the Democrats' concerns over politicisation of the Department of Justice, Blanche was confirmed by 50 votes to 49 in the US Senate narrowly dominated by the Republicans.
ALSO READ: Blanche confirmed as attorney general on tight Senate vote
Blanche, who has represented Trump in several criminal cases, said he was "deeply honoured" by the trust and confidence placed in him by the US President. "I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process. To the dedicated public servants of the Department of Justice, thank you for your work each day to uphold the law and keep our country safe," Blanche wrote on X.
Who Is Todd Blanche
According to the official page of the US DOJ, Todd Blanche began his career at the department and has served in various capacities over fifteen years. He has previously held the positions of a contractor, and a paralegal in the Criminal Division. Blanche also served at the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, where he went on to assume the roles of an AUSA and later a supervisor.
Blanche has also worked as a defense attorney, representing Donald Trump in criminal cases in 2023 and 2024. In one of the most controversial cases, he was Trump's attorney during the New York trial over alleged "hush money" paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
ALSO READ: Todd Blanche hit with lawsuit over Jeffrey Epstein probe; New Mexico alleges DOJ 'obstructed' case
Trump appointed Todd Blanche as the Deputy Attorney General after his return to the White House in 2025.
Born on August 6, 1974, Blanche is married to Kristine and has two children.
Why Todd Blanche's Appointment Is Controversial
Critics of Todd Blanche have accused him of eroding the US Justice Department's independence through actions seen as politically motivated. The department allegedly attempted to pursue criminal charges against senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, raising concerns about the misuse of federal law-enforcement powers against political opponents.
Under Blanche's leadership, the DOJ has been accused of pursuing "weak" cases against figures, including James Comey, Letitia James and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
He drew scrutiny over a Justice Department deal that could provide tax immunity to Trump, his sons and his businesses, with senators questioning its scope.
Blanche also came under fire for the alleged botched release of Jeffrey Epstein files, including improper redactions and the exposure of victims' identities. He was also criticised for initially refusing to meet survivors.
Further, Blanche reportedly promised anti-abortion advocates that the DOJ would seek to make abortion restrictions permanent across every state.
- ABOUT THE AUTHORAkanksha Verma
Akanksha Verma is an Associate Editor at the Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With an experience of over a decade, she has led newsrooms operations and worked on digital content strategies. She is adept at covering breaking news situations and holds expertise in doing long-form explainers on national, political and geopolitical issues. Akanksha has previously worked with The Times Of India, Indian Express Online, News18.com, India Ahead and The Daily Jagran. She has written on key national and global events, including the Lok Sabha Elections, Assembly Elections, US Elections, US-Iran war, Operation Sindoor, Israel-Palestine conflict, Afghanistan conflict, Ram Temple verdict, Ladakh standoff, Abrogation of Article 370 and Demonetisation. She holds a BA (Hons) in English from Ramjas College, University of Delhi, and a Postgraduate Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal, Odisha. She is proficient in both English and Hindi and has earned a beginner-level certification in Korean. Beyond her newsroom responsibilities, Akanksha enjoys reading books that explore gender and social issues. She also turns to poetry as a creative outlet, writing verses whenever inspiration strikes.Read More
Open article →NBCUnited States
Goldstein: 0.0CAMEO 01
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.
Open article →NBCAlaska
Goldstein: 0.0CAMEO 01
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.”
The White House welcomed Cassidy’s decision.
“This is great news and we look forward to his final confirmation shortly,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Todd Blanche has done an excellent job as acting Attorney General and will continue doing so as Attorney General.”
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.
Open article →