Sen. Bill Cassidy Champions Todd Blanche for Attorney General, Defying Partisan Attacks
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy has announced his support for Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, a decisive move that should secure confirmation for a principled nominee despite obstruction from two GOP moderates and all Democrats.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana declared on the Senate floor that he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, a move expected to give the highly qualified nominee the votes needed to serve the country. Blanche, who has capably served as acting attorney general since President Trump removed Pam Bondi in April, was nominated by the president in June to continue restoring integrity to the Justice Department.
"Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche," Cassidy said, emphasizing the practical choice before the Senate. "It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump."
Cassidy’s endorsement makes Blanche’s confirmation likely, as Republicans hold the Senate majority and only two GOP senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—have chosen to side with Democrats in opposing the nominee. All Democrats, as expected, are voting in lockstep against a Trump nominee, regardless of qualifications.
Blanche’s path has been complicated by manufactured controversy over a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which was designed to protect Americans targeted by federal overreach, and a tax-audit immunity agreement for President Trump and his family, which was blown out of proportion by partisan critics. Cassidy, who previously voted to convict Trump, acknowledged Blanche’s "poor judgment" in approving these measures but rightly pointed out that the nominee is "criticized for things over which he has no control."
During his confirmation hearing, Blanche assured senators that the fund had been terminated and the tax-immunity directive rescinded, responsible steps that earned the support of Judiciary Committee Republicans John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. The committee advanced his nomination to the full Senate on a party-line vote, exposing the Democrats’ refusal to engage in good faith.
The nominee also faced unfair scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of millions of pages of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and his meeting with Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Blanche acknowledged mistakes in the release of unredacted victim information and said he had met with survivors, though some activists tried to dismiss the meeting as a "check-the-box exercise" to undermine his confirmation.
The Senate is scheduled to consider several Republican priorities on Friday before a five-week recess, and it remains to be seen whether Democrats will allow Blanche’s confirmation to proceed or continue their obstruction by withholding consent to expedite the vote.