Susan Collins To Vote Against Blanche for Attorney General, Saying He Has Overseen a Department That Is ‘Increasingly Political’

Senator Susan Collins says she will vote against acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s nomination to lead the Justice Department, citing an “increasingly political” atmosphere at the DOJ. Ms. Collins says she has concerns about Mr. Blanche’s role in the creation of the “anti-weaponization fund,” his support for President Trump’s immunity from IRS audits, and Mr. Blanche’s assurances that he would crack down on medication abortion drugs. Ms. Collins — a pro-abortion rights moderate and the only Republican senator representing a state won by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 — is in the race of her political life this year. Currently, she is in a statistical tie with her Democratic opponent, former Maine state senate president Troy Jackson. After winning the support of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Mr. Blanche appeared to be on a glide path to his confirmation. Ms. Collins’ opposition complicates Mr. Blanche’s path to victory, though he can still afford to lose two more senators on the Senate floor, assuming Senator Mitch McConnell returns for the final confirmation vote. In a statement Tuesday, Ms. Collins raised a number of concerns about Mr. Blanche’s ability to serve as an independent attorney general. “While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political,” Ms. Collins said. In her statement, Ms. Collins pointed to Mr. Blanche overseeing the creation of the “anti-weaponization fund,” his decision to approve an IRS audit immunity deal “to shield the President, his sons, and the family business.”“He promised an anti-abortion organization that he would seek to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication to women nationwide,” Ms. Collins wrote as another reason for why she would vote against his confirmation. Last week, Mr. Blanche told an anti-abortion group on a call that he would ensure that abortion restrictions would be respected in “every single state.” Mr. Blanche is considering additional steps to crack down on the use of the abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol.Ms. Collins also called out Mr. Blanche for attempting “to indict Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin over their ill-advised, but constitutionally protected, videos encouraging resistance to unlawful orders.” Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, Ms. Collins’ colleagues, cut a video last year urging military servicemembers to refuse unlawful orders — a video that has now landed Mr. Kelly in hot water with the Department of Defense. As a final point, Ms. Collins says the fact that more than 1,200 former DOJ employees are opposed to his nomination was another reason for her to vote no. Those former employees argued “that [Mr. Blanche] has undermined the institution.”“For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination,” Ms. Collins said.

Susan Collins To Vote Against Blanche for Attorney General, Saying He Has Overseen a Department That Is ‘Increasingly Political’

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