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United States (US) President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, has been narrowly confirmed as the United States attorney general after a 50-49 Senate vote ended a months-long standoff over his nomination.
Blanche, who had served as acting attorney general since April, secured confirmation overnight after two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, joined Democrats in opposing him.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote, saying Blanche was the best candidate Trump was likely to nominate for the position.
“This is not a referendum on President Trump, it is a decision regarding Mr Blanche, in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said on Friday.
Blanche said after the vote that he was “deeply honoured by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me.”
His confirmation followed concerns from some Republican senators over his handling of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and his role in creating Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation” fund.
The fund was intended to compensate people who claimed they had faced government persecution.
However, critics, including Murkowski, feared it could benefit people prosecuted over the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Blanche eventually agreed to withdraw the proposal following opposition from Republican senators during his confirmation hearings.
However, it remains unclear whether the decision prevents Trump from pursuing a similar scheme under a different name.
Murkowski said she opposed Blanche because she lacked confidence in his ability to “check the worst impulses of this administration.”
She also cited concerns over the “politicisation” of the Justice Department.
Collins had also questioned Blanche’s role in settling Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service but ultimately said she trusted him to provide the president with candid legal advice.
Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment in 2021 over the January 6 Capitol riot, acknowledged that Trump would ultimately determine the direction of the Justice Department.
However, he said Senate confirmation would give Blanche “greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for.”
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer criticised the confirmation, accusing Blanche of enabling Trump.
“Todd Blanche has no intention of stopping Trump’s corruption. He advanced his career enabling it,” Schumer wrote on X.
Most Republicans, however, welcomed the confirmation.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Blanche had shown “extraordinary patience, compassion [and] tenacity” during the confirmation process.
“There’s no doubt he’s qualified,” Grassley said.
Blanche became acting attorney general in April after Pam Bondi was removed from the position.
He had previously served as deputy attorney general.
