The US Senate has narrowly approved President Donald Trump's nominee for the job of attorney general, making Todd Blanche the nation's top law enforcement officer in an early morning vote on Saturday.
The Republican-controlled body delivered a 50-49 vote to confirm the controversial Trump loyalist.
Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy was the last-minute convert this time, supplying the crucial deciding vote after his colleagues Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine jumped ship to join the chamber's Democrats in voting against Blanche's appointment.
In explaining her opposition, Murkowski said the country was in need of an attorney general "who will check the worst impulses of this administration."
On the Senate floor, Cassidy outlined his own conversion, saying he believed Blanche's relationship with Trump would make him effective at pushing back against Trump's demands.
