Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has put wind in the sails of Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, announcing in a Friday floor speech that he will cast the decisive “yes” vote on the Senate floor.
The decision amounts to a major victory for President Donald Trump from an unlikely ally. Cassidy, who voted to convict the president in his 2021 impeachment trial, recently lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger and has since become a less reliable Republican vote.
It also comes hours after Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) became the second Republican to announce she would vote “no” on Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April. Blanche can only afford to lose two GOP senators on any party-line vote due to the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
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The biggest hang-up to Blanche’s nomination has been an “anti-weaponization” fund and its expected payouts to Jan. 6 defendants, as well as the tax immunity granted to Trump and his family in a May settlement. Blanche addressed both of those concerns in a document that unlocked the votes of Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), putting in writing that the fund was dead and there were, in fact, limits to audit immunity.
But Blanche, the president’s former personal attorney, has faced further skepticism about whether he can run the Justice Department apolitically. Cassidy, in particular, has raised concerns about the agency’s investigation into Cassidy Hutchinson, a one-time star witness to the Jan. 6 committee.
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