Maine Sen. Susan Collins says she plans to vote against Todd Blanche for Attorney General, becoming the first Republican to reject President Donald Trump’s nomination.
In a statement to news outlets, Collins said Blanche is a “capable lawyer,” but she is concerned that the U.S. Department of Justice has become “increasingly political” under his leadership. She plans to vote against his confirmation when it comes up for a vote in the full Senate.
Collins, who is running for a sixth term in the November elections, cited Blanche’s actions as acting attorney general, including approval of an order to shield Trump, his sons, and his family business from financial scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service and Blanche’s approval of the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Blanche’s nomination in a 12-10 party-line vote after Blanche committed in writing not to pursue the “anti-weaponization fund” that Democrats and other critics had called a taxpayer-funded slush fund.
But Blanche’s pledges to block an anti-abortion group from distributing abortion medication also contributed to Collins’s opposition, she said, as well as his push to indict Democrats Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and four congressional lawmakers, for making a “constitutionally-protected” video encouraging resistance to unlawful military actions.
“More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have opposed his nomination, arguing that he has undermined the institution,” Collins said. “For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination.”
Collins has opposed other Trump nominations, including Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary and Kash Patel for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But last year she voted to confirm Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, as Deputy Attorney General.
Two other key GOP senators – Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana – remained undecided on Blanche’s nomination as of Wednesday.
If either of those two lawmakers joins Collins and other Democratic lawmakers in voting against Blanche’s confirmation, it could derail the nomination.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is still absent from the Senate due to a health issue, which means Republicans hold a slim majority of 52 seats in the upper chamber.
Maine Democratic Party spokesperson Misha Linnehan criticized Collins for waiting until after a deal was reached to put Blanche’s confirmation vote to come out against it.
“Once again, Susan Collins waited until Todd Blanche’s confirmation was all but assured to conveniently announce her opposition,” she said in a statement. “But Mainers see through her charade, after she voted with Trump 96% of the time, including votes for some of his most extreme, right-wing nominees. Maine deserves a Senator who will actually stand up to Trump’s harmful agenda.”
