Senate Confirms Todd Blanche as Attorney General in 50-49 Vote. Here's what each side is saying, and what none of them are telling you.
š Full story, every source, both narratives: https://cvrdnews.com/story/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-in-50-49-vote
š° THE FULL STORY
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general in a 50-49 vote during a late-night session that ended around 4:00 a.m. Saturday. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined every Democrat in voting against the nomination. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana cast the deciding vote in favor, making Blanche the nation's 88th attorney general.
Blanche previously served as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, and he had led the Justice Department as acting attorney general since April, after Trump fired Pam Bondi. His nomination had been in limbo over a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and tax immunity arrangements for Trump, his sons and his businesses.
Cassidy, who had previously been opposed, cast the deciding vote after Blanche promised in writing to abandon the proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund and rein in a deal shielding the Trump family from IRS audits. Cornyn and Tillis got Blanche to put in writing that the fund was not moving forward, which helped his nomination clear the Senate judiciary committee.
Collins cited a Justice Department she believes has become increasingly political, and Murkowski criticized the department's handling of the Epstein files release. Blanche said he was deeply honored by the trust President Trump placed in him, and he thanked senators for working late to confirm him.
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ļø HOW THE LEFT COVERS IT
Left coverage frames Blanche's confirmation as installing Trump's personal attorney atop the Justice Department, foregrounding Schumer's charge that Republicans handed Trump an excuse for corruption. It stacks up the controversies attached to Blanche: the Epstein files rollout, a secret meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, and department actions against Comey, Letitia James, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and Jerome Powell. The takeaway pushed is that the tax immunity for Trump, his sons and his businesses and the $1.8bn fund reveal a department bent to serve Trump personally. It downplays the written commitments that swung GOP holdouts, which other sides emphasize. (CNN, The Guardian)
ā¬ HOW THE CENTER COVERS IT
Center coverage treats the vote as a narrow institutional test that turned on concrete concessions, foregrounding Blanche's written pledge to abandon the $1.8 billion compensation fund and rein in the deal shielding the Trump family from IRS audits. It supplies the procedural backdrop other sides skip: Blanche had served as acting attorney general since April after Trump fired Pam Bondi, and had previously been deputy attorney general and Trump's personal lawyer. The framing is factual and process-driven, noting Collins and Murkowski's opposition and Cas
