Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced on Friday, August 7th, 2026, that she will oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche. Murkowski described Blanche as "decent and capable" in a post on X but stated, "Ultimately, however, I will oppose his nomination."

This opposition follows Republican Senator Susan Collins’ earlier announcement on Tuesday that she would vote against Blanche, significantly narrowing the path for confirmation of Trump’s former personal lawyer. Blanche, currently serving as acting attorney general, secured support from Republican holdouts John Cornyn and Thom Tillis by pledging in writing that Trump’s $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund was terminated and that a related tax-immunity deal applied only to past tax returns. Both provisions stem from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

In a separate development, Donald Trump has made a second attempt to restrict the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. Just weeks after the US Supreme Court rejected his initial, broader bid to deny automatic citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents, Trump signed executive orders on Thursday, August 6th, 2026, aimed at denying US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called "birth tourists." This right has been guaranteed since the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.

Additionally, 60% of independents in the United States expressed support for government-provided healthcare coverage for all Americans. This policy, often referred to as "Medicare for all," has been promoted by progressives including Michigan US Senate nominee El-Sayed as an expansion of the government-run health insurance program.

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