Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the last Republican holdout on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Friday that he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, effectively guaranteeing Blanche will clear the panel and reach the full Senate floor with enough support to be confirmed.
Cassidy's decision removes the final real obstacle in Blanche's path. Republicans hold a narrow 12-10 majority on the Judiciary Committee, meaning a single GOP defection without a Democratic crossover vote would have deadlocked the panel and forced a more cumbersome procedural route to bring the nomination to the floor.
Cassidy had publicly withheld his support for weeks, pressing Blanche on questions about the independence of the Justice Department and the rule of law. The Louisiana senator, who voted to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, wanted assurances that Blanche would not simply function as a political instrument of the White House.
In a statement announcing his decision, Cassidy told CBS News that Blanche had satisfied his concerns during private conversations and his confirmation hearing testimony. Cassidy said Blanche committed to upholding the rule of law and maintaining prosecutorial independence.
"After prior conversations and his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will support Todd Blanche's nomination to be attorney general."
Cassidy added that Blanche had pledged to protect the integrity of the Department of Justice, a commitment the senator described as critical to earning his vote.
Blanche, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, gained national prominence as one of Trump's lead defense attorneys during his criminal cases in New York and the federal classified documents prosecution. Trump nominated Blanche after his 2024 election victory, choosing the lawyer who had represented him in some of the most consequential legal battles of the campaign cycle.
The nomination drew immediate scrutiny. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee questioned whether Blanche could credibly separate his role as Trump's personal attorney from the obligations of the nation's top law enforcement officer. Several Democratic senators argued during the confirmation hearing that Blanche's close attorney-client relationship with Trump created an inherent conflict of interest.
Blanche pushed back during his testimony, telling senators he understood the difference between representing a private client and serving the public. He pledged not to use the Justice Department to pursue political vendettas or to shield the president from lawful investigations.
With Cassidy now in the yes column, Blanche is expected to clear the Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote. No Democratic senator on the panel has signaled support for the nomination. The committee vote could come as early as next week, depending on scheduling by Chairman Chuck Grassley.
Once the nomination reaches the full Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats. Barring unexpected defections, Blanche should be confirmed without needing any Democratic votes. Senate leadership has signaled it wants to move quickly on remaining Cabinet-level nominations.
Blanche would replace acting leadership at the Justice Department that has been in place since the start of Trump's second term. If confirmed, he would take charge of a department already under pressure from the White House to shift enforcement priorities on immigration, violent crime, and what the administration has called the weaponization of federal law enforcement against conservatives.
Cassidy's hold had been one of the few genuine flashpoints in the Republican conference over Trump's second-term nominees. Most GOP senators fell in line quickly behind the president's picks. Cassidy, however, occupies an unusual position in the caucus. His vote to convict Trump in the February 2021 impeachment trial put him at odds with the party's base, and his willingness to challenge a Trump nominee carried more weight precisely because he had demonstrated independence before.
That history also made his eventual yes vote more meaningful for the White House. Cassidy's support signals that even Republicans who have clashed with Trump on matters of presidential accountability view Blanche as an acceptable choice to lead the Justice Department.
Democrats are expected to use the remaining floor debate to press their case that Blanche is too close to the president to serve as an independent attorney general. But without the votes to block confirmation, those arguments will function as political messaging rather than a procedural barrier.
The Justice Department Blanche would lead faces no shortage of high-profile challenges. The administration has already signaled aggressive enforcement priorities on the southern border, gang-related crime, and investigations into what Trump allies describe as politicized prosecutions during the Biden years. Blanche would also oversee the FBI, an agency that has drawn sustained criticism from conservatives over its handling of the Trump investigations and its approach to domestic threat assessments.
Blanche's critics argue that his personal loyalty to Trump makes him the wrong person to restore public trust in the department. His supporters counter that his prosecutorial background and courtroom experience give him the credibility to run the department effectively while implementing the president's law enforcement agenda.
Cassidy, for his part, framed his decision as a vote for the institution rather than the individual. He emphasized that Blanche's commitments on independence and rule of law were the deciding factors, not political alignment.
When the last skeptic in your own party signs off, the confirmation fight is over. The real test starts the day Blanche walks into Main Justice and decides whose calls to take first.
