WASHINGTON — August 10, 2026 — President Donald Trump is scheduled to swear in Todd Blanche as attorney general of the United States on Monday, completing a closely watched confirmation battle that ended with an extraordinarily narrow overnight vote in the U.S. Senate.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney and more recently the acting attorney general, was confirmed early Saturday morning, August 8, by a vote of 50–49.
The final outcome came down to Republican unity at a moment when two Republican senators broke with the president and voted against Blanche. In the end, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana emerged as the pivotal Republican whose support helped keep the nomination alive.
An Overnight 50–49 Confirmation
The Senate held the final confirmation vote at 4:17 a.m. on Saturday, August 8.
According to the official Senate roll call, the result was:
50 senators voted yes.
49 senators voted no.
1 senator did not vote.
With a simple majority required, Blanche was confirmed.
The vote represented a major victory for Trump but also demonstrated significant unease within the Senate over the direction of the Justice Department and Blanche’s leadership.
The Republican-controlled Senate could afford few defections.
It got two.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in voting against Blanche.
That made the position of Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy especially important.
Bill Cassidy Becomes the Pivotal Vote
Cassidy had not immediately committed himself to supporting Blanche.
As the confirmation approached, attention increasingly turned toward the Louisiana senator because Republican defections threatened to derail the nomination.
Cassidy ultimately announced his support for Blanche on the Senate floor.
He acknowledged reservations about the nominee, saying Blanche was not perfect while reasoning that another nominee would not necessarily be preferable.
His decision effectively provided Republicans with the vote they needed.
Had Cassidy joined Collins and Murkowski in opposition, Blanche would not have reached the 50 votes recorded for confirmation under the circumstances of Saturday’s vote.
Cassidy’s vote therefore became one of the defining moments of the confirmation fight.
Why Susan Collins Voted No
Collins publicly explained her opposition before the final vote.
Although she described Blanche as a capable attorney, Collins said she had become concerned about the independence of the Justice Department.
Among the issues she cited were actions involving protections from IRS audits for Trump, members of Trump’s family and the Trump family business, as well as the creation of a controversial approximately $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
The fund became one of the central issues surrounding Blanche’s confirmation.
Before his nomination advanced, Blanche formally terminated the fund, a move that helped address concerns raised by several Republican senators.
For Collins, however, the action was not sufficient to overcome her broader concerns about the Justice Department.
She voted no.
Murkowski Also Breaks With Trump
Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski also voted against Blanche.
Her opposition was particularly significant because every Republican defection increased the possibility that Blanche’s nomination could collapse.
With Collins and Murkowski voting against the president’s nominee, Republicans needed nearly every remaining available Republican vote.
That placed Cassidy near the center of the drama.
His eventual decision to support Blanche helped produce the final 50-vote majority.
Blanche Clears the Judiciary Committee
The close floor vote followed an equally partisan confirmation process in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On August 4, the committee voted 12–10 to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate.
The committee vote fell along party lines.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa strongly supported Blanche, arguing before the final confirmation that Blanche would make public safety a priority as attorney general.
Opponents offered a sharply different assessment, arguing that Blanche’s close relationship with Trump raised questions about whether the Justice Department would retain sufficient independence from the White House.
Those competing arguments followed the nomination all the way to the Senate floor.
From Trump’s Defense Lawyer to Attorney General
Blanche’s confirmation represents an extraordinary transition.
Before joining the administration, he became nationally known as one of Trump’s personal attorneys.
He represented Trump in the New York criminal case that resulted in Trump’s 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
After Trump returned to the presidency, Blanche entered the Justice Department and became deputy attorney general.
He subsequently became acting attorney general following the departure of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump then nominated Blanche to take the position permanently.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held Blanche’s nomination hearing on July 15, 2026, beginning the formal process that ultimately led to Saturday morning’s confirmation.
A Divided Senate and a Powerful Office
The attorney general occupies one of the most powerful positions in the federal government.
As head of the Department of Justice, the attorney general oversees federal law enforcement and supervises institutions that include the FBI, federal prosecutors and numerous Justice Department divisions.
That authority made Blanche’s previous work as Trump’s personal attorney a central issue in the confirmation debate.
Supporters emphasized his legal experience and argued that he could restore public confidence in federal law enforcement.
Critics questioned whether a lawyer with such a close professional relationship with the president could maintain the traditional independence expected of the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer.
The Senate ultimately answered the constitutional question of confirmation by the narrowest possible political margin.
Fifty senators said yes. Forty-nine said no.
And among those 50 votes, Cassidy’s became particularly consequential.
Trump Prepares to Administer the Oath
With Senate confirmation completed, Trump is scheduled to formally swear Blanche into office Monday.
The ceremony will complete Blanche’s transformation from Trump’s private defense attorney to the nation’s attorney general.
It will also mark the beginning of a new phase for a Justice Department that has become one of the most politically contested institutions of Trump’s second administration.
For Trump, Blanche’s confirmation places a trusted longtime legal ally at the head of the Justice Department.
For Blanche, the oath will carry a different legal obligation. As attorney general, his responsibility is not to serve as the president’s personal lawyer but to lead the Department of Justice and carry out the duties of the office under the Constitution and federal law.
And for the Senate, the final numbers will remain an important part of the story.
Blanche survived the opposition of two Republican senators and unified Democratic resistance because Republicans retained enough votes to confirm him.
When the outcome was uncertain, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana made the consequential decision to vote yes.
That decision helped turn an endangered nomination into a 50–49 confirmation and cleared the way for President Trump to swear Todd Blanche in as attorney general of the United States.
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By L. Long, Staff Reporter contributed to this report.
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