This morning started with Senator Lisa Murkowski announcing she will vote against Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General, leaving Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana as the sole remaining Republican vote standing between Blanche and confirmation… or between Blanche and the longest, most humiliating cabinet confirmation defeat since 1989.
But Cassidy has not learned a thing since being snookered by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Murkowski’s statement, posted to X at 6 a.m., was characteristically measured and characteristically pointed. She said Blanche “comes across as decent and capable,” appreciated his trip to Alaska, noted several decisions she approved of, and then: “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.” She cited the Epstein files, the IRS immunity granted to Trump and his family, the anti-weaponization fund, and the targeting of Trump’s political enemies. “The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she wrote. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Learning After Law School
Once you’ve got your law degree, how do you keep your professional skills up to date? Share your perspective in this brief survey, and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card.
With Murkowski and Collins both out, and Mitch McConnell still absent from the Senate recovering from a June fall, Blanche has exactly zero votes to spare. Cue the spotlight on Cassidy, a lame duck Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger earlier this year and has spent the subsequent months demonstrating increasing independence from the administration that worked to end his career.
Cassidy said yes anyway. “All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche,” he said in a floor speech Friday morning. “I’ll be criticized for this vote. What’s new?”
In explaining his vote, Cassidy said he weighed concerns about DOJ’s “weaponization,” specifically the ongoing probe into Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide and key January 6 witness, whose potential indictment has been hanging over this confirmation process like a very specific sword of Damocles. Cassidy told reporters he expressed concern about what he described as “lawfare,” prosecutions driven “not for a valid reason, but because somebody in high office is angry at them.” He is not wrong that this is a problem! …Unfortunately he’s planning on voting for the henchman enabling Donald Trump’s most vindictive streak.
We’ve seen this movie — Cassidy has absolutely been played by the administration before. He Cassidy conditioned his support for RFK Jr.’s confirmation on specific promises about vaccines, promises Kennedy proceeded to break almost immediately after being confirmed, firing the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, cutting vaccine funding, and adding baseless content to the CDC website casting doubt on vaccine safety. Now Cassidy’s voting for Todd Blanche, who called two senators liars in his written confirmation responses, who introduced himself as Trump’s lawyer at his own hearing, who won’t commit in writing to keeping the slush fund dead in any meaningful way, and who has spent 18 months demonstrating that his primary loyalty is to one man.
Managing Partners are Navigating the AI Inflection Point.
New executive research from Ari Kaplan explores how law firm leaders are responding to changing client expectations, evolving economics, talent transformation, and AI governance.
Blanche will now almost certainly be confirmed before the Senate leaves for its five-week recess and become the permanent Attorney General of the United States. The slush fund will probably come back and the Epstein files will probably remain buried. And somewhere, RFK Jr. is nodding along.
Earlier:The Trump Slush Fund Is Dead. Long Live The Trump Slush Fund.
Todd Blanche Loses Susan Collins’s Vote. Blame His Secret Promises To Anti-Abortion Groups.
The DOJ Has Betrayed Epstein Survivors — New Mexico Is Suing Over The Latest Issue
Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Vote Gets Postponed Because He Just Won’t Put His Promises In Writing
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump’s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1