An embattled Republican senator says she is against the nomination of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer as attorney general.
Maine’s Susan Collins shared a statement Tuesday evening cementing her opposition to Todd Blanche’s nomination, arguing that the DOJ has strayed from operating independently of partisan influence under his reign as acting attorney general.
“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political,” Collins, 73, wrote on X. “Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation.”
Collins cited Blanche’s ludicrous backdoor deal to “shield the President, his sons, and the family business from IRS audits” and his creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” as prime examples of his partisan leanings.
She also condemned how he oversaw the DOJ’s targeting of Democratic Senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly over their “ill-advised, but constitutionally protected” videos advising American troops not to follow illegal orders.
“More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have opposed his nomination, arguing that he has undermined the institution,” the senator added. “For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the DOJ and Collins for comment.
The Maine senator’s refusal to vote for Blanche comes after two of her GOP colleagues, Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, backpedaled on their previous condemnation of Blanche on Monday.
Both Tillis and Cornyn had said last week that they would not vote to confirm Blanche unless he confirmed in writing that the anti-weaponization fund he helped create as part of a settlement between Trump and the IRS was terminated.
Late on Sunday, Cornyn brokered an agreement with Blanche that seemed to adhere to his demands, leading him and Tillis to cast their support for his nomination as AG.
The Texas senator later admitted that “there was nothing we could do to rein in the president” as he faced pressure from Trump to vote in his favor.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which both Tillis and Cornyn sit on, voted 12-10 along party lines on Tuesday to advance Blanche’s nomination to a vote by the full Senate later this week.
Despite Blanche clearing a hurdle with Tillis and Cornyn, Collins’s lack of support could prove crucial in the final confirmation vote.
Republicans need only one more holdout to stop Blanche’s confirmation dead in its tracks, and several GOP senators, including Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, and John Curtis, have yet to clarify their support for Blanche.
