U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — a nominal Republican up for re-election in 2028 — appears desperate to undermine the MAGA agenda and prevent President Donald Trump from getting his ducks in a row.
Murkowski — who in recent months repeatedly voted against funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection; voted to reign in Trump’s war powers; voted to block Trump’s tariffs; voted unsuccessfully to keep taxpayers on the hook for USAID and other foreign funding; voted against multiple Trump nominees, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao; campaigned against the SAVE America Act; and complained with Democrats about ex-FBI Director James Comey’s indictment — revealed Friday she will vote against Todd Blanche’s confirmation for attorney general.
‘She’s not good.’
With the continued absence of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), this effectively means that the fate of Blanche’s confirmation could be decided by Bill Cassidy — a U.S. senator whose hopes of a third term Trump helped dash in Louisiana’s May Republican primary.
Murkowski, who started the year with an approval rating of 37%, noted in a lengthy X post that she has had numerous “constructive meetings” with Blanche and credited him not only as being “decent and capable” but also as having “made several noteworthy decisions that will benefit our state and the nation.”
The 69-year-old senator nevertheless vowed to “oppose his nomination.”
It appears Murkowski is less opposed to the man and more opposed to the administration. After all, some of her complaints have to do with actions taken at the Justice Department prior to Blanche’s April promotion to acting attorney general.
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Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images
“The politicization — even weaponization — of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” wrote Murkowski. “I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the president, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. senators.”
Murkowski also expressed skepticism about the scrapping of the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that would have compensated MAGA victims of Democratic lawfare, noting that while it was taken off the table “because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage,” there “is no telling what the future holds.”
The senator said in conclusion that she does not have confidence that Blanche can “check the worst impulses of this administration.”
There is no love lost between Trump and Murkowski.
“I’m against Murkowski,” the president recently told Punchbowl News. “I do more for Alaska than any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s not good.”
In June, Trump called the Alaskan U.S. senator “Trump deranged.”
Murkowski is not, however, the only Republican lawmaker keen to torpedo Blanche’s confirmation.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins — the Maine Republican whose challenger in the midterms is a leftist reportedly married to his second cousin — complained that while Blanche is a “capable lawyer,” he “has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence.”
Cassidy, a vociferous Trump critic and the remaining undecided Republican, has declined to indicate whether he’ll support Blanche, reported The Hill.
The Senate is expected to vote Friday or sometime over the weekend to get the ball rolling on a final confirmation vote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement, “Todd Blanche is exceptionally qualified and should be confirmed as the next attorney general of the United States so the administration can continue to keep America safe.”
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