Todd Blanche narrowly confirmed as Trump's attorney general in overnight vote

The US Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a narrow 50-49 vote. According to PBS NewsHour, this makes him the second confirmed attorney general since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and Trump's personal defense lawyer, has been serving as acting attorney general since April.

The confirmation process was contentious, with concerns raised about Blanche's independence from Trump. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against him, joined by all Democrats. However, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who had been a hold-out, ultimately switched his vote to confirm Blanche, citing that he believed Blanche would be effective at pushing back against Trump's demands, as reported by DW News.

Cassidy stated that Blanche "is not perfect," but another nominee "may not be as good," according to Forbes.

Blanche expressed his gratitude to Trump and senators for his confirmation, writing that he was "deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation's 88th attorney general." His confirmation could allow him to pursue the Trump administration's agenda more aggressively, although concerns remain about his independence from the White House.

Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour, DW News, Fortune, Forbes, Jerusalem Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.