{"id":988443,"date":"2026-08-08T07:01:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988443\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:01:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:01:25","slug":"todd-blanche-wins-support-for-attorney-general-from-sen-cassidy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988443\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Blanche wins support for attorney general from Sen. Cassidy"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy<\/a> said Friday that he will back Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination as attorney general<\/a>, likely paving the way for Blanche\u2019s confirmation to lead President Donald Trump\u2019s Justice Department. <\/p>\n

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche\u2019s confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. <\/p>\n

Cassidy said Blanche \u201cis not perfect,\u201d citing concerns over a proposed $1.8 billion fund<\/a> to compensate Trump allies, a tax audit immunity deal<\/a> for the Republican president and investigations targeting the president\u2019s political opponents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Cassidy said no other nominee may be able to run the department better under Trump, and he added that Blanche\u2019s role as Trump\u2019s former criminal defense lawyer can make him more effective at pushing back on the president\u2019s demands. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Blanche wins support for attorney general from GOP Sen. Cassidy, likely paving way for confirmation\n <\/p>\n

A Republican senator\u2019s \u201cyes\u201d vote will likely pave the way for Todd Blanche to win Senate confirmation as U.S. attorney general. AP correspondent Donna Warder reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,\u201d Cassidy said. The senator, who lost his Republican primary<\/a> after Trump endorsed his rival, appeared to choke up as he described the criticism he expected to face for his Blanche vote, adding, \u201cWhat\u2019s new?\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s nomination came after Bondi was ousted<\/p>\n

Blanche would become Trump\u2019s second confirmed attorney general since the president returned to the White House last year with a stated desire to use the law enforcement agency to investigate his perceived enemies. He has been serving as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi<\/a> in April after she failed to deliver on criminal cases against Trump\u2019s foes. <\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s path to confirmation has been complicated over a settlement of Trump\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> against the Internal Revenue Service that has drawn intense scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike. The settlement called for the creation of the $1.8 billion fund<\/a> to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits. <\/p>\n

Republican senator cites concerns about Blanche<\/p>\n

Murkowski, in announcing her opposition to Blanche, cited concerns over the Justice Department\u2019s handling of files<\/a> related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the sweeping tax audit immunity deal and the proposed \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund.\u201d The Alaska senator said she is worried the Trump administration could proceed with the fund despite the administration\u2019s promises that it is dead, noting that the Senate has leverage over the fund only because Blanche\u2019s nomination is pending. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,\u201d Murkowski said. \u201cI hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Blanche\u2019s nomination only after a deal reached last weekend<\/a> with two other Republican senators \u2014 John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina \u2014 who had been threatening to block his confirmation over aspects of the settlement. <\/p>\n

Under the deal, Blanche formally rescinded the \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund,\u201d writing in an order that \u201cthere is no Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department also clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit \u2014 Trump, two of his sons and the Trump Organization \u2014 are covered by the tax agreement.<\/p>\n

Democrats accuse Blanche of prioritizing his allegiance to Trump<\/p>\n

But Democrats say Blanche\u2019s order doesn\u2019t stop the Trump administration from reviving the fund after his confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it. Trump has repeatedly defended the fund and has threatened to push forward<\/a> with it if Republicans don\u2019t support Blanche\u2019s nomination. <\/p>\n

Lawmakers and legal experts have also questioned the lawfulness<\/a> of the tax protections for Trump. A federal judge who oversaw the IRS case has described Trump\u2019s lawsuit as an improper exercise in self-dealing, and on Thursday the union representing IRS workers asked another judge<\/a> to block the immunity agreement. <\/p>\n

Democrats have accused Blanche of prioritizing his loyalty to Trump above all else through investigations against Trump foes such as former FBI Director James Comey and a radical reshaping of a department that historically prided itself on its independence from the White House. Under Bondi and Blanche\u2019s leadership, the department has lost thousands of employees<\/a> through firings, resignations or voluntary departures. <\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s supporters say his experience as a federal prosecutor and the trust he earned from Trump in the courtroom makes him better equipped than Bondi to explain to the White House the legal constraints of its demands. Republicans have also touted his efforts to bring down violent crime, tackle illegal immigration and combat violent cartels and drug trafficking. <\/p>\n

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it would be a \u201cserious mistake\u201d to confirm Blanche, begging his colleagues not to be on the \u201cwrong side\u201d of history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is ever a moment in history when we need an attorney general above reproach, who is clearly dedicated to ending corruption, even at the highest level of our government, it\u2019s right now,\u201d Durbin said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said Friday that he will back Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination as attorney…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":988444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[13671,934,3881,42098,327,12785,84,69,57,47593,139559,49023,15053,25227,361,336,362,26451,353,2741,2735,8132,50,11335,80,96269,16537,618,16538,95,89,94,61,322,67,370,326,132,68,93],"class_list":["post-988443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-ak-state-wire","tag-alaska","tag-ap-top-news","tag-bill-cassidy","tag-congress","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-general-news","tag-government-appointments-and-nominations","tag-internal-revenue-service","tag-james-comey","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-john-cornyn","tag-la-state-wire","tag-lawsuits","tag-legal-proceedings","tag-lisa-murkowski","tag-louisiana","tag-maine","tag-me-state-wire","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-pam-bondi","tag-politics","tag-richard-durbin","tag-susan-collins","tag-taxes","tag-thom-tillis","tag-todd-blanche","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-united-states-house-of-representatives","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-washington-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/988444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}