President Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Todd Blanche, is facing opposition from Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins, who announced she will vote against his confirmation. Collins cited several reasons for her opposition, including Blanche’s promise to an anti-abortion organization to seek prohibition of mailing abortion medication nationwide.

Collins stated she had carefully reviewed Blanche’s qualifications but opposed his nomination partly because of his commitment to pro-life priorities. Blanche reportedly pledged during a July 30 conference call with the White House Faith Office to make the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade “permanent in every single state.”

During Blanche’s confirmation hearing, a majority of GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned him about abortion drugs, expressing discomfort with the continuation of the Biden administration’s mail-order abortion drug program and the Department of Justice’s opposition to pro-life states challenging it in court, according to SBA Pro-Life America.

SBA Pro-Life America praised Blanche for stating, “We very much believe the Biden rules were wrong,” and urged him to settle ongoing litigation with Louisiana and abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich to remove abortion drugs from the mail while the FDA’s safety study continues.

In addition to abortion-related concerns, Collins opposed Blanche’s confirmation due to his approval of an order to shield former President Trump and his family from Internal Revenue Service audits, the creation of an approximately $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, and the Department of Justice’s attempt under his leadership to indict a Democratic Arizona senator.

Separately, the Republican-controlled Congress failed to extend a funding freeze for Planned Parenthood on July 4, which was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.

Sources