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# One GOP Vote, One 1.8 Billion Fund: Todd Blanche's Attorney General Bid Survives a 24-Hour Scare
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/politics-2/
- Published: 2026-08-09T14:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-09T19:49:39.000Z
- Description: Todd Blanche’s attorney general bid survives a GOP revolt after Bill Cassidy backs him despite controversy over a $1.8B fund.
- Author: Eleanor Whitfield
- Tags: Politics

Todd Blanche's path to becoming the next U.S. attorney general narrowed to a single vote on August 7, then reopened within hours, in one of the tightest confirmation fights of President Trump's second term. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, but with Senator Mitch McConnell absent for an extended medical recovery and no Democrats expected to support the nominee, Blanche could afford to lose only two GOP votes and still be confirmed. He lost two on Friday — Susan Collins of Maine, who announced her opposition [days earlier](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6009239-collins-opposes-blanche-ag-confirmation/amp/?ref=theamericanquorum.com), and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who followed suit Friday morning, citing a lack of confidence that Blanche would "check the worst [impulses](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/lisa-murkowski-vote-no-todd-blanche-attorney-general-rcna591326?ref=theamericanquorum.com)" of the administration. That left the outcome resting entirely on Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who by midday had declared, in an emotional Senate floor speech, that he would [vote for](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-cassidy-todd-blanche-attorney-general%5Fn%5F6a75eebbe4b0e33593d2ebb2?ref=theamericanquorum.com) Blanche after all — a reversal that appears to clear the way for confirmation, though the Senate had not yet scheduled the final floor vote as of Friday evening.

## The Fund at the Center of the Fight

The controversy tracing back months centers on a roughly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" that Blanche helped establish this spring as acting attorney general, intended to compensate people — including, critics say, participants in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot — who claimed they were wrongly investigated or prosecuted by the Justice Department. A federal judge in Virginia [temporarily blocked](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-cassidy-cory-booker-anti-weaponization-fund-court/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) the fund from disbursing any payments while litigation proceeds, and the administration has said it does not intend to revive it, though it has not committed that assurance in writing. In June, a bipartisan bloc of senators tried to kill the fund outright through legislation; that effort [failed 50-49](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/04/senate-republicans-vote-trump-doj-anti-weaponization-fund/90402605007/?ref=theamericanquorum.com), with three Republicans — Collins, Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — breaking with their party. A narrower Cassidy-authored amendment redirecting the fund toward injured Capitol police, rather than rioters, also fell short of the 60 votes needed, [failing 52-47](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5911405-cassidy-amendment-anti-weaponization-fund/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) despite support from six Republicans.

## From Judiciary Committee to the Floor

Blanche cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line [12-10 vote](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/todd-blanche-weaponization-fund-senate-confirmation.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) on August 4, sending his nomination to the full chamber. Two Republicans on the committee, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, had voiced early skepticism over the fund and Blanche's past remarks praising January 6 pardons, but both ultimately backed him. Utah's John Curtis and Ohio's Jon Husted also announced their support that week, citing what Curtis called Blanche's "[receptivity](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/08/04/congress/todd-blanche-votes-curtis-01023896?ref=theamericanquorum.com) and understanding" of their concerns, including a stated intention to end the fund. That left Collins, Murkowski and Cassidy as the remaining question marks — and Blanche's fate resting on winning at least one of them.

Collins tied her opposition to broader concerns about Justice Department independence, noting in her statement that more than [1,200](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6009239-collins-opposes-blanche-ag-confirmation/amp/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) former department employees had publicly opposed the nomination. Murkowski's statement struck a similar note about institutional guardrails, while stopping short of harsher language. Cassidy, notably, is not seeking reelection after losing his Louisiana Republican primary earlier this summer to a candidate backed by Trump — a defeat that some observers suggested freed him to vote his conscience without fear of political retaliation. In his floor remarks, Cassidy said Blanche had shown ["poor judgment"](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-cassidy-todd-blanche-attorney-general%5Fn%5F6a75eebbe4b0e33593d2ebb2?ref=theamericanquorum.com) in approving the fund and in exempting Trump's family business from ongoing tax audits as part of a related settlement, but concluded that Blanche had acknowledged the errors and moved to unwind the fund. "I'll be criticized for this vote," Cassidy said. "What's new?"

## Competing Interpretations of the Same Facts

The episode is being read differently across the political spectrum, underscoring how contested the underlying facts remain even where the vote tally itself is not in dispute. Democrats and some Republican critics point to the scale of opposition from career DOJ alumni and the unresolved court fight over the fund as evidence of deeper independence concerns at the department. Trump allies and Blanche's supporters counter that the nominee has already moved to dismantle the fund and that criticism of pardons issued by the president is, in Cassidy's words, being unfairly attributed to Blanche personally rather than to executive clemency decisions outside his control. Both Collins and Murkowski face reelection considerations of their own — Collins in a state Kamala Harris carried in 2024 — a dynamic that analysts on both sides have flagged as potentially, though not provably, relevant to their positioning ahead of the 2026 midterms, where [national polling](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/friday-aug-7-2026-050000999.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) from a CNN survey conducted by SSRS shows Democrats leading Republicans by 8 points on the generic congressional ballot.

## What Comes Next

As of Friday evening, the Senate had not set a firm date for the final confirmation vote, though Cassidy's announcement is widely seen as removing the last major obstacle. Under Senate rules, Blanche needs a simple majority — 50 votes plus Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote, if necessary — to be confirmed, given McConnell's continued absence from voting since June. If confirmed, Blanche would move from acting attorney general to a permanent, Senate-confirmed tenure atop the Justice Department, a promotion that would let him continue overseeing the department's response to the fund litigation and other pending matters. The vote arrives the same week the Senate also passed, by an [86-11 margin](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6012606-senate-russia-iran-sanctions/?ref=theamericanquorum.com), a long-stalled sanctions package targeting Russia and Iran named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham — a reminder that even amid sharp partisan divides over nominations, broad bipartisan majorities remain possible on other fronts before senators leave Washington for their August recess.