Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday she will vote against Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general, putting his confirmation in serious jeopardy. The Alaska Republican becomes the second GOP senator to publicly oppose the nominee, joining Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Murkowski said in a Friday morning post on social media that the country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of the administration. She stated she lacks confidence that Blanche would fulfill that role if confirmed.
The opposition from both senators is significant because Republicans control the Senate with only a narrow margin. Blanche can afford to lose just two Republican votes, assuming all Democrats vote against him and Sen. Mitch McConnell remains absent. With Murkowski and Collins both opposed, the nomination faces substantial obstacles.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy remains undecided on the nomination, adding uncertainty to Blanche's path forward.
However, the source material indicates that Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who were previously holding out on their support, announced they would advance Blanche's nomination after reaching what they called a "successful negotiation of a legally enforceable document." This agreement addressed concerns about provisions in a Trump settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.
Specifically, the document formally ends a planned 1.8 billion dollar fund referred to as an "anti-weaponization fund." The agreement also clarifies that Trump and his family will not receive indefinite protection from audits of future tax filings. Both the fund and the scope of Trump's immunity from audits had become dealbreakers for Cornyn and Tillis.
"We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund," Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement. They added that the department acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit and does not extend to other parties.
The attorney general position oversees the Justice Department and serves as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. The role includes supervising federal prosecutors and providing legal counsel to the executive branch.
Blanche, who is already serving as acting attorney general, is scheduled to face a Senate judiciary committee vote on his permanent confirmation.
The Senate judiciary committee is due to vote on whether to approve the nomination and send it to the wider Senate for a vote. The timing of the vote had not yet been scheduled at the time the original article was written, though the source material indicates it would occur soon after the agreement was reached.