{"id":77136,"date":"2026-08-08T03:56:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/blanche-survives-republican-defectors-as-trump-gets-his-new-attorney-general\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:56:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:56:58","slug":"blanche-survives-republican-defectors-as-trump-gets-his-new-attorney-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/blanche-survives-republican-defectors-as-trump-gets-his-new-attorney-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Blanche survives Republican defectors as Trump gets his new attorney general"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once thought doomed, President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Justice Department<\/a> has survived the Senate and now will take the helm as the nation\u2019s top law enforcement official.<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was confirmed early Saturday morning as part of a mad blitz by lawmakers to wrap up their work and jet from Washington, D.C. Now, he\u2019ll officially replace Pam Bondi as attorney general.<\/p>\n

Blanche, who is Trump\u2019s former personal lawyer, nearly saw his confirmation hopes go up in smoke as Republicans struggled to swallow his role in rolling out the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization and sweeping IRS audit immunity for the president and his family.<\/p>\n

TRUMP’S AG PICK SURVIVES \u2014 FOR NOW \u2014 AS REPUBLICANS QUESTION IF WHITE HOUSE DEAL WILL HOLD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, a last-minute ally emerged: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who announced on Friday that he would back Blanche\u2019s confirmation after spending days keeping tight-lipped on his decision.<\/p>\n

Though he was concerned about weaponization at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and just how binding an agreement to nix the anti-weaponization fund<\/a> and limit Trump\u2019s audit immunity would be, he argued that having a Senate-confirmed attorney general was a better option than a placeholder.<\/p>\n

“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “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.”<\/p>\n

TRUMP’S PICK FOR TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL GETS CRUCIAL LAST-MINUTE LIFELINE FOR CONFIRMATION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Still, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined all Senate Democrats to oppose Blanche\u2019s confirmation.<\/p>\n

Murkowski announced her opposition<\/a> hours before Cassidy\u2019s lifeline. She contended that despite Blanche\u2019s trek to Alaska and numerous meetings with him, she could not support him to be the next attorney general.<\/p>\n

She was worried about his connection to the anti-weaponization fund, a weaponized Justice Department, Blanche\u2019s role in the Epstein Files<\/a> release, and the uncertain future of the fund, which several Republicans have raised concerns about over whether taxpayer dollars would flow to rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n

TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES BACK ON ‘SLUSH FUND’ ATTACKS AGAINST ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND AND LAYS OUT WHO QUALIFIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Collins raised similar concerns earlier in the week, and was the first Republican out of the gate to cast doubt on Blanche\u2019s chances of confirmation.<\/a><\/p>\n

“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice<\/a> has become increasingly political,” Collins said. “Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department\u2019s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once thought doomed, President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Justice Department has survived the Senate and now will take the helm as the nation\u2019s top law enforcement official. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was confirmed early Saturday morning as part of a mad blitz by lawmakers to wrap up their work and jet from … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}