Todd Blanche’s nomination to become President Trump’s next confirmed attorney general looked like it might be one Republican defection away from collapse.

Then Sen. Bill Cassidy walked onto the Senate floor Friday and delivered the vote Blanche desperately needed.

Cassidy’s announcement had been closely watched because Blanche could afford almost no additional Republican opposition. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had already said they would vote no.

With Sen. Mitch McConnell still absent, another lost GOP vote could have left the nomination stranded before the Senate’s August recess.

Just the News reported that Cassidy’s support likely clears the way for confirmation. The Louisiana Republican said his choice was between Blanche and another acting attorney general who might be less capable of running the Justice Department under President Trump.

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Cassidy acknowledged that he had concerns, but concluded that rejecting Blanche could put progress against violent crime, drug trafficking, and fraud at risk.

The report noted that Collins and Murkowski were already opposed while McConnell remained absent. That left Blanche with almost no room for another Republican defection before the chamber departed for its August recess.

Cassidy did not deliver a ringing love letter. He delivered a cold assessment of the choice in front of the Senate — and it appears to be enough.

The White House formally sent Blanche’s nomination to the Senate on June 8. President Trump selected the Florida lawyer to lead the Justice Department after Blanche had already served as deputy attorney general and then acting attorney general.

Blanche’s path to the top job followed years on both sides of federal criminal cases. He previously served as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, worked in private defense practice, and represented President Trump before returning to government.

The nomination asks senators to decide whether to make his current leadership permanent. Until that vote occurs, he remains the acting head of the department rather than a Senate-confirmed attorney general with a full mandate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held Blanche’s nomination hearing on July 15. Its public record includes support letters from former Justice Department officials, state attorneys general, sheriffs, police organizations, pro-life advocates, and other law-enforcement groups.

The committee listed Blanche as the sole nominee at the hearing and published his questionnaire alongside dozens of supporting submissions. Those materials gave senators a detailed record on his career, legal work, department leadership, and outside endorsements before the nomination reached the floor fight.

The fight was never really about whether Blanche knows his way around the law. Even his critics have had to wrestle with his experience as a federal prosecutor, defense attorney, and senior Justice Department official.

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The battle centered on whether Republican senators trusted how he would exercise the enormous power of the attorney general’s office.

Collins ultimately said she did not.

The White House’s support packet shows how broad Blanche’s law-enforcement backing has become. The Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, 23 state attorneys general, and dozens of former Justice Department officials urged senators to confirm him.

Those groups pointed to his prosecutorial experience, work with local law enforcement, focus on violent crime and fraud, and commitment to restoring one standard of justice.

For MAGA voters, that last point is not abstract. They watched the Justice Department become a weapon against President Trump, pro-life Christians, parents, and ordinary conservatives while politically connected Democrats seemed to live under a different rulebook.

Blanche now has the chance to help prove that era is over.

Cassidy’s vote does not confirm him by itself. Senate Majority Leader John Thune still has to bring the nomination to the floor.

The final vote had not been scheduled when Cassidy announced his decision. Even so, the arithmetic changed dramatically Friday, and Blanche appears to have survived the most dangerous moment of his confirmation fight.

The Senate should finish the job before leaving town. President Trump deserves the attorney general he nominated, and Americans deserve a Justice Department focused on criminals, cartels, fraudsters, and corruption instead of another season of political lawfare.

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