Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general
In a narrow 50-49 vote, President Trump's former defense lawyer was confirmed as attorney general in a vote early Saturday.
Blanche narrowly won approval from the upper chamber in a 50-49 vote. Two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined with all Democrats in voting against his nomination to helm the Justice Department.
Blanche's path for confirmation cleared earlier Friday when Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, announced he would back his nomination . With Collins' and Murkowski's opposition, and GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky absent, Cassidy's vote was decisive.
Blanche joined the second Trump administration as deputy attorney general and was tapped for acting attorney general following the removal of Pam Bondi from the role in April. Mr. Trump announced in June that he had selected Blanche to permanently lead the Justice Department.
But Blanche faced headwinds during his confirmation, as Democrats and some Republicans took issue with the Justice Department's creation of a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to provide payouts to people who alleged they were wronged by the federal government. The program was part of a settlement agreement the department reached with Mr. Trump in May to resolve a $10 billion civil lawsuit he filed against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor.
Senators also pushed back on a second provision of the settlement, which provided broad immunity to Mr. Trump, members of his family and his businesses from tax audits and investigations.