Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican, announced on Friday, August 7th, 2026, that he will support Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general, paving the way for Blanche to lead the Justice Department in a permanent capacity.

Cassidy acknowledged that Blanche "is not perfect," but emphasized that the choice is not between perfection and Blanche. He contrasted Blanche with another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and may not be as capable as Blanche.

With Cassidy's backing, Blanche is expected to secure confirmation, though by a narrow margin. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had already announced their opposition to Blanche's nomination, making Cassidy's vote decisive.

The Justice Department, while the acting attorney general told senators that a certain fund was "dead," negotiated for weeks with key Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, before securing their support for Blanche earlier in the week.

Blanche has faced scrutiny from senators over the Justice Department's handling of the release of more than 3 million pages of documents related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as his meeting last year with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Blanche acknowledged during his confirmation hearing that "mistakes were made" with some of the Epstein documents, which contained unredacted names and personal information of victims.

Cassidy stated, "This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche."

Sources