Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general after Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced they would not support him.
Cassidy’s support now puts Blanche, the acting attorney general, on a path to be confirmed.
The outgoing Louisiana senator, who lost to a Trump-backed challenger in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary earlier this year, announced Friday morning on the Senate floor that he will vote for Blanche shortly after they spoke on the phone.
Cassidy said the choice “is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
“This puts at risk the progress made fighting violent crime, human and drug trafficking, and fraud. And this does not serve the American people well,” he added.
He said the vote “is not a referendum” on the president.
“It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche,” he stated.
“I’ll be criticized for this vote. What’s new? But people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision,” he added.
Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning if all Senators were present and voting, Blanche would need 51 votes, or 50 and then a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, who serves as president of the Senate.
However, because Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will not be present, Blanche needs to get to 50 votes for a majority. Without the support of Collins and Murkowski, and because of McConnell’s absence, Cassidy’s support appears likely to put Blanche over the finish line at 50 votes.
Blanche cleared the Judiciary Committee in a 12-10 vote on Tuesday with the support of Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), who only voted to advance the nomination after Blanche rescinded an order establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund.
The Senate plans to vote on the confirmation on Friday.
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