Senate Confirms Todd Blanche After Handful Of GOP Holdouts Threatened His Nomination

The Senate confirmed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to be the next attorney general after holdouts threatened his nomination process.

The upper chamber confirmed Blanche with every Democrat and Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins voting against him. Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis were hesitant to support Blanche over a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization package, though they later reached a deal with Blanche and voted to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Cornyn and Tillis demanded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide written proof that the fund was rescinded and rewrite language in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) settlement to ensure that audit immunity for President Donald Trump and his family did not extend beyond the plaintiffs. The DOJ sent a written proposal to Cornyn on July 27, though Cornyn returned it and argued they had not met his demands.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley scheduled the markup for July 30, though he postponed it because Cornyn had not reached a deal with Blanche. The acting attorney general released documentation confirming the fund had been rescinded, which caused Cornyn and Tillis to support his nomination.

The committee advanced Blanche’s nomination Tuesday in a 12 to 10 vote.

Collins and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska declared they would oppose Blanche’s confirmation.

Collins argued in a Tuesday statement that the DOJ had become “too political” under his leadership. She cited the fund, the attempted indictments of Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona and his promise to prohibit the mailing of abortion pills as her reasonings.