Cassidy Voices Midterm Fears After Giving Blanche 50-49 Confirmation Vote
Updated
Updated · Democracy Docket · Aug 9
Cassidy Voices Midterm Fears After Giving Blanche 50-49 Confirmation Vote
3 articles · Updated · Democracy Docket · Aug 9
Summary
Bill Cassidy said there is "always this existential anxiety" about whether Attorney General Todd Blanche will uphold constitutional limits in November's midterms, adding he could not give a black-and-white assurance.
Those doubts center on Blanche's refusal to rule out DOJ intervention in state election administration or federal presence at polls, even as courts and election experts have warned his tactics could intimidate local officials.
Cassidy had been a key holdout but supplied the decisive 50-49 vote early Saturday after saying he was told Trump's $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund had effectively been shut down and would be hard to revive.
Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, had already spent three months as acting attorney general, stepping up efforts to defend Trump's anti-mail-voting order and seek private voter files from states.
The split-screen outcome leaves the Senate vote settled but Republican unease visible as the DOJ's role in the fall midterms becomes a central test of Blanche's independence.