Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney for US President Donald Trump, was narrowly confirmed as the country’s highest law enforcement official, the attorney general. The vote ends a protracted impasse over Blanche, who has been acting attorney general since April, between the Trump administration and Senate Republicans. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, two Republicans, joined all Democrats in opposing Blanche’s candidacy, but Blanche secured confirmation in a 50-49 vote overnight.
Given the years of animosity between the Louisiana Republican and Trump, Senator Bill Cassidy cast the decisive vote, which was widely monitored in Washington. Blanche declared that he was “deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me” following the vote. Blache’s role in setting up Trump’s $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) “anti-weaponization” fund and his management of the release of information pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein had drawn criticism from several Republican lawmakers.
Murkowski and other critics feared that the fund, which was intended to compensate people who said they had been persecuted by the government, would instead go to people who had been charged with taking part in the 2021 attack on Congress on January 6. After receiving backlash from Republican senators during his confirmation hearings, Blanche finally promised to withdraw the cash.
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