The road to confirmation just got bumpier for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
After surviving a key committee vote Tuesday, Blanche’s fate became even more uncertain as Republican leaders eye a full floor vote to confirm him. That’s because Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is not going to back him.
“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has become increasingly political,” Collins said in a statement.
“Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation.”
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Collins’ decision came after reviewing Blanche’s qualifications to be the replacement for former Attorney General Pam Bondi, including records and his responses during his appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee that she chairs and his confirmation hearing.
She listed several reasons to go against Blanche, including his approval of a “shield” from IRS audits for Trump, his sons and family and the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund, which has rankled the feathers of several Republicans since its creation was announced earlier this year.
Collins also pointed to his promises to anti-abortion organizations that he would try to halt mailed abortion medication, his attempted indictments of Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., for their “ill-advised, but constitutionally protected, videos encouraging resistance to unlawful orders” and pushback from over 1,200 Justice Department employees as a basis to buck his nomination.
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“For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination,” Collins said.
Her defection is a crucial, but not fatal, blow to Trump and Blanche. Republicans can only afford to lose one more vote before the confirmation is dead in the water.
That’s because Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is still absent with no clear timeline for his return. And there are more Republicans who are leery of, or not outright saying, that they will support Blanche.
Those include senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; John Curtis, R-Utah; and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
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It all comes after Blanche and the Department of Justice struck a deal with Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to win their support in the Senate Judiciary Committee that gave explicit direction that the anti-weaponization fund was dead and narrowed the scope of Trump and his family’s audit immunity.
But critics of the deal in the Senate say there’s no real binding mechanism to ensure that neither Trump nor Blanche would just turn around and tear up the agreement after his confirmation.
It also throws a wrench into Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and the rest of Republican leadership’s plans to try and swiftly confirm Blanche amid a blistering sprint to a near monthlong break for the remainder of August.
Fox News Digital did not immediately receive comment from the White House on Collins’ decision.