Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill on 29 July 2026 in Washington DC. ImagesUS Senate Trump’s attorney general pick Todd Blanche appears to clear last hurdle for confirmationBill Cassidy, Republican seen as a decisive holdout, said he is prepared to back Trump’s former personal lawyer US politics live – latest updates Joseph Gedeon in WashingtonFri 7 Aug 2026 17.18 CESTFirst published on Fri 7 Aug 2026 14.00 CESTShare Bill Cassidy, the US Republican senator seen as the decisive holdout on Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, announced on Friday that he will support the pick, setting the stage for a major win for Donald Trump.Confirmation that Cassidy, of Louisiana, is prepared to back Blanche – Trump’s former personal lawyer, and a loyal ally of the president – appeared to clear the last hurdle of his confirmation process, which had been challenged by the defections of the Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.Blanche is already serving as acting attorney general.“I will vote for Mr Blanche,” Cassidy said in a US Senate floor speech on Friday morning. After the Oval Office meeting, Trump acknowledged the political toll his feuds with GOP holdouts have taken.“Look, I don’t regret it.
You do what you have to do,” Trump told Punchbowl News. Experts say Trump could easily reverse it. Murkowski said the Senate only currently has leverage over the fund because Blanche’s nomination to head the Department of Justice is pending necessary confirmation by the upper congressional chamber.Blanche had persuaded the Senate judiciary committee in a 12-10 vote in his favor earlier this week only because he promised Republican holdouts that he would not pursue the payout fund.Blanche issued a formal order late on Sunday terminating Trump’s $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” slush fund designed to compensate political allies who had been “targeted” by the justice department, including prosecutions of January 6 insurrectionists.
That move followed weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination to become attorney general – Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, who were eventually swayed by Blanche.Murkowski posted on X on Friday, praising Blanche but then saying “ultimately” she would oppose his nomination, a position she took on Tuesday and is now sticking with.“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case,” she wrote, as part of a much longer post on the topic.Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, but Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was just released from the hospital, is not attending sessions because of his health.Explore more on these topicsUS SenateAlaskaDonald TrumpTrump administrationUS CongressUS politicsnewsShareReuse this content
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