Todd Blanche Confirmation Teeters After 1 GOP Defection as McConnell Absence Leaves Little Margin
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 5
Todd Blanche Confirmation Teeters After 1 GOP Defection as McConnell Absence Leaves Little Margin
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 5
Summary
Susan Collins' decision to oppose Todd Blanche left Trump's attorney general nominee able to lose only one more Republican vote, with a Senate vote possible within days.
Mitch McConnell's indefinite absence tightened the math further, while Bill Cassidy and Lisa Murkowski—both previously wary of Blanche—declined on Wednesday to say how they would vote.
Blanche, now acting attorney general, won over John Cornyn and Thom Tillis by pledging in writing that Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund was dead and a related tax-immunity deal covered only past returns.
Those assurances have not ended questions about whether the fund could be revived and why Trump should receive benefits from a settlement of his $10 billion IRS lawsuit that could save him millions.
John Thune said he wants Blanche confirmed before the Senate begins its month-long recess this week, but called the whip effort a work in progress.