Senate panel approves Trump’s ex-lawyer as US attorney general

Todd Blanche, a former lawyer for President Donald Trump, has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee to become the US Attorney General. The committee voted 12-10 in favor of his nomination, with all Republicans supporting him and all Democrats opposing.

The vote comes after Blanche agreed to scrap a controversial $1.8 billion fund created through the administration's settlement of a lawsuit brought by the president. The fund, known as the "Anti-Weaponisation Fund", was intended to compensate people who claimed they were targeted by politically motivated government investigations. However, critics argued that it could still be revived.

Blanche's nomination will now move to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, where he will need to receive 50 votes to be confirmed. According to CNBC World, several GOP senators have not committed to voting for Blanche, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, CNBC World, Le Monde English, South China Morning Post, CBS News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.