Blanche nomination for AG in doubt after Alaska’s Murkowski says she’s opposed

Murkowski, a key moderate voice in the Senate, wrote in a social media post that she opposed several policies the Justice Department has undertaken during President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Blanche has been either the DOJ’s No. 2 official or the acting attorney general since Trump returned to the White House, and she cast doubt that he would be the leader to reverse those policies.

“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she wrote. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

In an interview posted to YouTube early Friday morning, Trump disparaged Murkowski.

“I’m against Murkowski,” he said on Punchbowl News’ “Fly Out Day” podcast. “I do more for Alaska than any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s not good.”

Senate math

Murkwoski’s statement puts increased pressure on the last remaining Senate Republican holdout on Blanche: Cassidy. 

With Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell away from Washington recovering from a fall, 49 Republicans are expected to support Blanche’s confirmation. Murkowksi and Susan Collins of Maine have said they will vote no. 

Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has missed votes this week attending to a family matter, said he would return for a vote, presumably against, on Blanche.

That leaves only Cassidy.

Blanche’s confirmation took a major step this week when the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it on a party-line vote. 

That came only after Blanche wrote a memo that a nearly $1.8 billion fund for victims of political prosecutions — widely expected to benefit people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — and an IRS immunity deal for Trump and his family would not go forward.

That commitment secured the support of Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has not scheduled a floor vote on Blanche’s confirmation. 

Murkowski’s objections

In a lengthy post Friday morning, Murkowksi thanked Blanche for visiting Alaska and for making “several noteworthy decisions” she said would help the state and nation.

But she raised a list of concerns about how the department has operated under his leadership.

“The politicization—even weaponization—of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” she wrote. “I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.”

She also said she was not confident the letter dissolving the “anti-weaponization” fund would be effective.

“I am also keenly aware that the Department’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage,” she said. “Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”