Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins both voted with Democrats against Blanche.
Acting AG Todd Blanche became the official attorney general after a late night Senate vote saw him confirmed by a slim margin. The vote was held in the early hours of Saturday morning where Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana cast the necessary vote to get Blanche across the finish line with a 50-49 victory.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins both voted with Democrats against Blanche, who served as deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi before her departure left him in charge of the Department of Justice. Mitch McConnell was not in the chamber to make the vote.
At issue ahead of the vote was a compensation fund set up for victims of a weaponized Department of Justice under the Biden administration. The plan for the fund was eventually scrapped as that became a sticking point for both Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect,” said Cassidy on the Senate floor, “and he will tell you thin, but the choice if not between perfection and Mr. Blanche, it is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department as effectively under President Trump and who, indeed, may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
Blanche served as President Trump’s personal attorney during his 4-year hiatus from the White House during the Biden administration. In the wake of the vote, he said he was “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.
“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. God bless America.”
“America is safer with Todd Blanche at the helm of the Justice Department,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley.