WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general in a 50-49 vote just after 4 a.m. Saturday, elevating President Trump's former personal defense lawyer to the top of the Justice Department after weeks of Republican defections and last-minute concessions on a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.
The vote makes Blanche the 88th attorney general and closes a lengthy standoff between Senate Republicans and the White House. Blanche had run the department in an acting capacity since April, when Trump forced out Pam Bondi, and his elevation hands the president a Senate-confirmed ally atop the agency he has repeatedly pressed to pursue his political opponents.
The count
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only Republicans to join every Democrat in voting no. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was absent. That made Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who had kept his position private for days, the deciding vote after he announced his support Friday afternoon.
"This is not a referendum on President Trump, it is a decision regarding Mr Blanche, in very specific circumstances," Cassidy said. "All considered, I will vote for Mr Blanche." Cassidy said Senate confirmation would give Blanche "greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for."
The fund
Blanche's path had narrowed after Democrats and several Republicans objected to a May settlement of Trump's $10 billion civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The deal set up a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to pay people who said they were wronged by the federal government, and granted Trump, his two oldest sons and the Trump Organization broad immunity from tax audits. Critics, including Murkowski, feared the payments would flow to people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina withheld support until the department made written changes. Blanche signed an order late Sunday rescinding the fund and clarified that the immunity deal covered only already-filed returns and only the president, his two oldest sons and the Trump Organization. Sen. John Curtis of Utah also backed the nomination.
Blanche said in a post on X that he was "deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice."
The dissent
Murkowski said she could not support Blanche after multiple meetings and a trip he made to Alaska. "The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration," she said. "I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case." Collins said Blanche had taken "several actions that have further eroded the Department's independence," citing the tax immunity deal and the anti-weaponization fund.
The counterpoint
Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump at the 2021 impeachment trial and was pushed into retirement this year after Trump backed a primary challenger for his Louisiana seat, argued a confirmed attorney general beat a placeholder. "Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this," he said on the floor. "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." Cassidy also said he was reluctant to impede the department's work fighting violent crime.
Blanche takes office as the Senate begins its August recess. It remains unclear whether his written commitment to end the anti-weaponization fund is legally binding, or whether Trump could later persuade his former lawyer to revive a similar program under another name.