Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is relying on the support of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to secure his nomination — unless Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is out indefinitely, makes a return to the Senate.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) announced Friday that she will oppose the nomination of Blanche, President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, leaving his confirmation hanging by a thread.
Without Murkowski's backing, and with all Democrats expected to vote no, Blanche is now counting on Cassidy, a Republican critic of the Trump administration who lost his primary election in May to another candidate endorsed by the president.
"No comment on Blanche," Cassidy told reporters Thursday when asked how he would vote.
Blanche could also receive a "miracle," according to a reporter, from McConnell, who said Thursday he had been discharged from a rehabilitation center after a fall in mid-June and subsequent case of pneumonia. The longtime senator, 84, said he will continue to recover at home, but did not provide a timeline of when he would be back to work.
With support from McConnell, Vice President JD Vance could serve as the tie-breaking vote.
Murkowski announced her decision in a post on X, saying that Blanche had come across as "decent and capable" during meetings and offering her appreciation after he visited Alaska to learn more about the state.
But she criticized Blanche over what she described as an acceleration of "politicization" and "weaponization" of the Justice Department during Trump's second term.
"I take 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," Murkowski wrote in a post.
She also took aim at the DOJ's now-scrapped $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, which she referred to as a "slush fund" in her announcement, questioning whether it would remain on the table.
"The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration," Murkowski said. "I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case."
Murkowski joins Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a fellow GOP moderate, in standing against Blanche's ability to serve in the role permanently.
Blanche similarly faced pushback from Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), right before the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination earlier this week. The two GOP holdouts struck a deal with Blanche after he committed in writing to kill the anti-weaponization fund.
In an interview with Punchbowl News, Trump lashed out at Murkowski before she expressed her opposition to his choice.
"I'm against Murkowski," Trump said in the interview, released Friday. "I do more for Alaska than any any president in history. No president's done for Alaska what I've done. She's she's not good."
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