WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) announced Friday that he will vote in favor of confirming Todd Blanche as the next attorney general, effectively confirming his ascent to the nation’s highest law enforcement post.
Cassidy faulted Blanche for having “showed poor judgment in approving the anti-weaponization slush fund and exempting the president from IRS audits,” as well as allowing the Justice Department to target the president’s political enemies, but ultimately concluded: “I will vote for Mr. Blanche.”
“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, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche,” said Cassidy from the Senate floor.
“This puts at risk the progress made fighting violent crime, human and drug trafficking and fraud. And this does not serve the American people well. This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances.”
With Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) absent due to ongoing health issues, Blanche could only afford to lose two GOP votes in the upper chamber and still be confirmed.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) previously announced they would vote “no.”
“The politicization — even weaponization — of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” Murkowski said in a statement earlier Friday.
“I take issue with the handling of the release of the [Jeffrey] Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators,” she added.
Collins, who is currently running for re-election, called Trump’s pick “a capable lawyer” who has also allowed the Department of Justice to become “increasingly political.”
“Under his leadership, the Department attempted to indict Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin over their ill-advised, but constitutionally protected, videos encouraging resistance to unlawful orders,” the Maine Republican noted.
The acting attorney general won over skeptical Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) after affirming in writing that a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could provide payouts to Trump allies wouldn’t be reconstituted.
That allowed Blanche’s nomination to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but both Murkowski and Collins still objected to the initial creation of the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund and cited it as part of the reason they opposed the acting AG.
President Trump sued the IRS earlier this year for leaking his confidential tax returns in 2024, resulting in a settlement agreement that set up the fund.
A five-person board would have been set up to receive applications from victims of perceived political prosecution in past administrations — even as far back as former President Barack Obama — and approve compensation packages.
Tillis and others objected to pardoned January 6th rioters potentially being in line for payments, with the retiring North Carolinian calling it a “payout pot for punks.”
