ToplineTodd Blanche was confirmed as President Donald Trump's Attorney General in an overnight vote after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., switched to a "yes" and gave Blanche the last vote he needed for a 50-49 confirmation. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesKey FactsCassidy said in a floor speech Friday “Blanche is not perfect, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It 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."Cassidy’s decision comes after Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced earlier Friday she would vote against Blanche because she can’t trust him to “check the worst impulses of this administration,” noting several Justice Department decisions she has opposed during Trump’s second term, including its handling of the Epstein files, the targeting of Trump’s political enemies and immunity granted to Trump and his family. Republicans Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, as well as all Democrats, voted against Blanch’s nomination (Sen. Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., is still absent from the Senate). crucial quote“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General,” Blanche said in a post on X early Saturday. “