Committee Republicans advance Blanche nomination to full Senate
correspondent David Spunt reports from Capitol Hill on the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing Todd Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate. While Republican Sen. Susan Collins announces opposition, committee Republicans maintain general consensus to support President Donald Trump’s nominee. The hearing features criticism from progressive Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker, who challenged Blanche’s record and past actions.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Wednesday he would not vote for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to officially take over the role leading the Department of Justice.
During a Wednesday appearance on comedian Jon Stewart’s podcast, Fetterman was pressed on Democrats’ failure to use the Senate filibuster to block President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees. The senator responded by claiming he would not vote for Blanche, who is Trump’s choice for attorney general.
“Many of them I didn’t vote for,” Fetterman said, referring to Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., recently expressed that he would not support Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general. ( Digital)
“And if you’re going to bring up Blanche, I’m not going to vote for him as well. There are some that I would vote for, and then there are many that I haven’t because I just don’t believe that’s the right person for the job overall. I really try to call balls and strikes,” he told Stewart.
Fetterman has been one of the Democratic senators most supportive of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, voting “yea” to confirm half of his nominees, according to a Digital review.
He was the only Democrat to support Trump’s previous choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi. He also helped push Markwayne Mullin, the newest Homeland Security secretary, over the line, casting the decisive vote to advance Mullin out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee 8-7. Fetterman was again the only Democrat to vote for Mullin’s confirmation, joining the 53 Senate Republicans to confirm Mullin in a 54-37 vote.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., gestures to now former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as they stand in an elevator during a vote at the U.S. Capitol building on March 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Despite Fetterman supporting Trump’s previous pick to head the Department of Justice, it appears the president will not be able to count on his vote this time around.
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Bondi won her nomination from the Senate in a 54-46 vote. Todd Blanche will likely have at least two fewer votes than that tally, as Fetterman joins Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in publicly expressing opposition to Blanche.
“Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation,” Collins said Tuesday.
Collins notably voted to confirm Blanche as the assistant attorney general in March.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she will not vote to confirm Todd Blanche as Attorney General. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Two other potential GOP holdouts – Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, – are still undecided, according to The Hill.
A pair of Republicans who had previously opposed Blanche’s nomination – Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. – flipped to “yeas” after Blanche agreed to stop pursuing a planned Anti-Weaponization Fund.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to be attorney general at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2026. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
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The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate on a strict party line vote 12-10.
Digital contacted the White House, the DOJ and Fetterman for further comment.
