Senator Lisa Murkowski announced she will vote against Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General, setting up a razor-thin Senate confirmation outcome.
With Murkowski’s opposition declared, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana emerged as the sole remaining Republican vote capable of deciding Blanche’s fate in the upper chamber.
Murkowski posted her statement to X at 6 a.m., striking a tone that was both measured and pointed in equal parts.
She wrote that Blanche “comes across as decent and capable,” and acknowledged his trip to Alaska along with several decisions she approved of during his tenure.
However, Murkowski made her ultimate position clear: “Ultimately, however, I will oppose his nomination. The politicization — even weaponization — of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it.”
The senator specifically cited the Epstein files, IRS immunity granted to Trump and his family, the anti-weaponization fund, and the targeting of Trump’s political opponents as key factors in her decision.
Cassidy’s expected support for Blanche is drawing scrutiny given his earlier experience backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cassidy conditioned his support for Kennedy’s confirmation on specific promises about vaccines, promises Kennedy proceeded to break almost immediately after being confirmed, firing the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel and cutting vaccine funding.
Blanche himself has attracted controversy throughout the confirmation process, having called two senators liars in his written confirmation responses and introduced himself as Trump’s lawyer at his own confirmation hearing.
Critics have also noted that Blanche declined to commit in writing to permanently dismantling the so-called slush fund, raising concerns about the independence of the Department of Justice under his leadership.
Blanche spent roughly 18 months as Donald Trump’s personal defence attorney before being nominated, a period his detractors argue demonstrated a primary loyalty to one individual rather than to the rule of law.
The confirmation outcome represents what observers are describing as one of the narrowest cabinet victories in recent memory, echoing the political drama surrounding cabinet defeats stretching back to 1989.
With the Senate preparing to depart for a five-week recess, Blanche is now widely expected to be confirmed and sworn in as the permanent Attorney General of the United States.