Cassidy backs Blanche, giving Trump pick 50 votes for AG

Sen. Bill Cassidy’s decision to support Todd Blanche gave President Donald Trump’s attorney general pick the 50 Republican votes needed for Senate confirmation, assuming no other GOP senator breaks away. Republicans hold 53 seats, but Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have said they will vote no, while Mitch McConnell remains absent. Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney and the acting attorney general, had faced resistance over Justice Department independence, its handling of Jeffrey Epstein files and a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund tied to Trump’s tax-records lawsuit. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis later backed him after Blanche gave assurances that the fund had been rescinded and clarified a tax-audit agreement involving Trump and his family.