U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is still weighing whether to vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general, a confirmation all but assured after two Republican senators agreed to back him following a Sunday night agreement to kill a controversial $1.8 billion fund for people claiming to be victims of the government.
Blanche has helmed the Justice Department the past few months after Trump fired Pam Bondi in April. The Republican senator from Maine did vote with her party to confirm him as deputy attorney general last year.
Seeking a sixth term and facing a challenge from Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson, Collins is still waiting for Judiciary to hold its vote on Blanche, a former personal attorney for the president who has faced sharp criticism from Democrats and advocacy groups. A spokesperson for the senator said Monday that she is also holding off on a decision until confirming all the details of the agreement hammered out between Blanche and the two senators who were previously holding out, Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
A spokesperson for independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, who voted alongside Democrats against Blanche’s confirmation as deputy last year, declined to weigh in before Blanche’s Judiciary Committee vote expected Tuesday.
Cornyn and Tillis said they would not advance Blanche out of the Judiciary Committee until the acting attorney general on Sunday formally ended the so-called anti-weaponization fund, which had sparked bipartisan backlash. Facing legal action and widespread criticism, the Justice Department and Blanche had said for weeks that the fund was not moving forward, but he released a document late X Sunday night confirming it was rescinded.
The fund stemmed from an IRS settlement over Trump’s previously leaked tax returns. Democrats and watchdogs still characterize the settlement as a sweetheart deal because it protects the president and family members from audits or prosecution for prior tax returns. Another document released by Blanche clarified that the agreement does not protect Trump’s future tax filings from scrutiny, applying its terms only “retroactively.”
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement. “Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.”
Collins questioned Blanche about the anti-weaponization fund in May, asking about the precedent, how claims would be handled and whether information would be publicly reported. She previously told reporters she did not support the fund as it was initially described, noting those convicted of violence against police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack by Trump supporters shouldn’t be entitled to reimbursement of legal fees.
With Tillis and Cornyn on board, Blanche is likely to secure his confirmation in a full Senate vote later this week. Collins previously voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, but has otherwise voted to confirm Trump’s Cabinet picks, which has already factored into Democrats’ criticisms of the senator in the midterm race.
Trump on Saturday said if the Senate doesn’t confirm Blanche, he’ll keep him as acting attorney general “and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill.”
Politico reported earlier this month that Blanche had been courting another swing vote, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, while the Justice Department has dropped energy production lawsuits against the state and announced multiple settlements netting Alaska hundreds of millions of dollars.
Beyond the anti-weaponization fund, criticism of Blanche and the Justice Department under his watch have prompted scores of former department employees to urge senators to vote against his confirmation.
Last month, more than 1,200 former Justice Department employees spanning 14 administrations of both major parties accused Blanche of purging hundreds of career employees, “vindictive prosecutions and investigations of the president’s foes,” making deals that reward lawbreakers with taxpayer dollars, erasing accountability for the Jan. 6 attack and mishandling the Jeffrey Epstein files.