WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche has been narrowly confirmed as attorney general – the nation’s top law enforcement official. The vote brings to an end a lengthy standoff between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration over Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April. Blanche won confirmation in a 50-49 vote overnight, with two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, joining all Democrats to oppose his nomination. Senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote, a decision closely watched in Washington given the years of acrimony between the Louisiana Republican and Trump. After the vote, Blanche said he was “deeply honoured by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me”. Some Republican senators had raised concerns about Blache’s handling of the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and his role in establishing Trump’s $1.8bn (£1.3bn) “anti-weaponisation” fund. The fund was planned to provide compensation to individuals who alleged government persecution but critics including Murkowski feared it would go to individuals who were prosecuted for participating in the 6 January attack on Congress in 2021.
