President Trump lashed out at Sen. Lisa Murkowski on social media hours after the Senate narrowly confirmed Todd Blanche as the nation's 88th attorney general, a vote the Alaska Republican nearly helped sink.
Trump fired off three social media posts aimed at Murkowski on Saturday after the Senate pushed Blanche's confirmation across the finish line in a 50-49 vote early that morning, the New York Post reported. Among the posts, Trump reposted content from a user identified as "C3" that called Murkowski "owned" and a "traitor." He also reposted a clip of former Biden-era Attorney General Merrick Garland stating he "personally approved" the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine were the only two Republicans to break ranks and vote against Blanche, joining every Senate Democrat in opposition. The razor-thin margin turned the confirmation into one of the most closely watched fights of the current Congress, and it nearly collapsed.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana delivered the decisive vote after announcing his support in a floor speech on Friday. Cassidy, who had been a vocal skeptic of Blanche's nomination, said he was concerned about "episodes of apparent lawfare" but ultimately concluded that Blanche deserved the post.
National Review reported that Cassidy framed his vote narrowly, telling colleagues:
"This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances."
Cassidy also acknowledged that "even critics admit that Mr. Blanche knows the law and is a hands-on administrator." The Louisiana senator had raised pointed questions about two agreements Blanche signed while serving as acting attorney general: a $1.8 billion settlement meant to compensate victims of government "weaponization," and a separate immunity agreement shielding Trump, his children, and his business from government action over past tax matters. That immunity deal was tied to Trump's withdrawal of a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
Cassidy's concerns were not his alone. Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis had also demanded that the DOJ put the anti-weaponization fund agreement in writing before they would vote. Cornyn eventually came around, telling reporters he believed the Justice Department needed Senate-confirmed leadership "to prevent some of the chaos and dysfunction over there" and that "Blanche is as good as you're going to get."
The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund had become the single biggest obstacle to Blanche's confirmation. Breitbart reported that Blanche formally rescinded the fund days before the vote, a concession that helped bring wavering Republicans on board. Blanche had signed the settlement establishing the fund but said it would not go forward.
He also provided written confirmation, secured during negotiations with holdout senators, that the audit immunity covering Trump and his family was narrower than the original agreement suggested, though the settlement agreement itself remained unchanged.
The maneuvering was enough to get Cornyn and Tillis to yes. It was not enough for Murkowski or Collins. The confirmation fight had been building for days, with Blanche's nomination clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 12-10 party-line vote just four days earlier.
Murkowski announced her opposition on Friday morning. Her stated reason cut in two directions at once. She acknowledged that the Justice Department had been politicized, even "weaponized", but said the problem "has accelerated during" the current administration.
"The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case."
That reasoning put Murkowski in an awkward position. She voted to confirm Merrick Garland as attorney general, the same Garland who, by his own account, personally approved the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Trump made sure to highlight that contrast by reposting the Garland clip alongside his criticism of the Alaska senator.
Murkowski's announcement left the confirmation on a razor's edge, and for hours it was unclear whether Blanche had the votes. Collins, who is up for reelection in November, also voted no but offered no public statement quoted in available reporting.
Blanche's confirmation capped an unusual journey. He served as Trump's personal criminal defense attorney, representing the president in the New York hush money trial, which Just the News noted ended without a conviction, and in two federal cases, including the classified documents prosecution. He had been serving as acting attorney general following the firing of Pam Bondi.
Democrats seized on that history. Sen. Dick Durbin argued the moment demanded an attorney general "above reproach, who is clearly dedicated to ending corruption, even at the highest level of our government." Newsmax reported that Blanche's confirmation is expected to give the administration a freer hand to pursue its Justice Department agenda now that the acting label is gone.
Blanche responded to his confirmation with a statement: "I am 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. I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process."
Rep. Jim Jordan praised the pick, saying Blanche "has the experience, the expertise, and the character we need leading the Department of Justice right now."
Cassidy's decision to back Blanche carried less political risk than it might have a year ago. The Louisiana senator had already lost his primary this summer after failing to secure Trump's endorsement. With nothing left to lose electorally, Cassidy framed his vote as a matter of institutional necessity rather than loyalty.
The broader Senate push to clear nominees and spending before the August recess added pressure to resolve the Blanche fight quickly. Republican leaders had been racing to move a backlog of confirmations, and a drawn-out floor battle over the attorney general post would have consumed days the majority could not afford.
Murkowski, who joined the Senate in 2002, has a long record of breaking with her party on high-profile votes. She voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial in 2021. That history makes her a familiar target for the president, and makes her opposition to Blanche less surprising than Cassidy's near-defection.
Trump, for his part, had earlier floated the idea of pulling the Blanche nomination entirely until the Republican holdouts left office. That threat did not materialize, but it underscored how personally the president took the resistance from within his own caucus.
Murkowski voted her conscience. Trump made sure she heard about it. And the Justice Department now has a confirmed leader, by a single vote, over the objections of two members of the president's own party who decided that was one vote too many to give.
