Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said he will support Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General in a Senate floor speech Friday morning, effectively guaranteeing Blanche’s confirmation.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche. This puts at risk the progress made fighting violent crime, human and drug trafficking and fraud, and this does not serve the American people well.”
During his speech Cassidy did address his “history” with President Donald Trump, adding “that history does not matter one bit.”
“This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy also acknowledged what he described as “poor judgement” from Blanche “in approving the anti-weaponization slush fund and exempting the president from IRS audits.” But, he added, conversations he has had with Blanche himself, former Attorney General Bill Barr and two current DOJ attorneys from Louisiana helped shift his mindset, specifically on the president’s push to prosecute his perceived political enemies.
“I’ve learned that some of the cases that have been publicly reported to be under investigation by the Department of Justice have been dismissed or no longer being pursued,” Cassidy said. “I am realistic that President Trump can be unrelenting on this but this will be true no matter who the Attorney General is and this is the rationale for having a Senate confirmed Attorney General with more leverage to push back. I will also note that Mr. Blanche is criticized for things over which he has no control, he points out that he has been criticized for presidential pardons given to Jan. 6 rioters, some of whom assaulted police officers. Many of us were here then, but this is a presidential prerogative, and he is not the president.”
This comes after Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced she would support Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General in a Friday morning social media post — a move that, initially, teed up the Trump administration to either court a senator whose career Trump ended or ask for the Senate to delay the vote until after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fully returns to work.
“I have had numerous constructive meetings with Mr. Blanche and he comes across as decent and capable. I appreciate the trip he made to learn more about Alaska, including our rural areas, … Ultimately, however, I will oppose his nomination,” Murkowski said in a post on X.
The Alaska senator said she takes “issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.”
She added: “I am also keenly aware that the Department’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage. Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”
I have had numerous constructive meetings with Mr. Blanche and he comes across as decent and capable. I appreciate the trip he made to learn more about Alaska, including our rural areas, and as Acting Attorney General he has made several noteworthy decisions that will benefit our…
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) August 7, 2026
Murkowski joined Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in opposing Blanche. Collins announced earlier this week that she would not vote to confirm him, pointing to similar reasons for her decision, including the promises he made to an anti-abortion group, vowing to target the online prescription and mailing of the abortion pill, mifepristone.
As TPM has reported, both Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) — the two senators whose votes Blanche needed to move his nomination out of committee — had sent a letter to Blanche in mid-July asking that he “stop the abortion industry’s unlawful and unsafe mail-order abortion drug practice.” Blanche made the promises to the anti-abortion group, it appears, while that committee vote was still in limbo.
But Blanche’s promise to roll back abortion access nationwide was bound to give both Collins and Murkowski pause. The two will occasionally break with the Republican Party on women’s rights and reproductive health issues.
Up until his floor speech on Friday morning, Cassidy was supposedly undecided. He had expressed concern about the Department of Justice potentially targeting the president’s perceived enemies. And Cassidy has clashed with Trump over several big issues recently, including on the Iran war powers authorization vote. Trump also refused to endorse Cassidy in his recent reelection campaign, instead actively endorsing and campaigning for Cassidy’s challenger, which ultimately led to Cassidy losing his reelection bid.
But Cassidy’s announcement Friday put all the speculation and theatrical hand-wringing from some Republican Senators over Trump’s corrupt slush fund and Blanche’s role in creating it to rest.
