Getty ImagesRepublican Senator Lisa Murkowski announced she would oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general, citing concerns over the “politicisation” of the Justice Department.
Trump seeks to install Todd Blanche, his former personal defence attorney who is currently acting attorney general, to run the Justice Department on a permanent basis but he has faced opposition from a small number of Republicans.
“The politicization – even weaponization – of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Without the Alaska senator’s vote, Blanche’s confirmation is now in jeopardy.
Leavitt said Blanche was “exceptionally qualified” and “should be confirmed”.
Speaking to Punchbowl News on Thursday before Murkowski’s announcement, Trump said he believed Blanche “will survive”.
Should Blanche fail to secure confirmation, Trump said he would keep him in the position regardless as acting attorney general.
Blanche was already deputy attorney general when he took up the interim leadership role in April, after Pam Bondi was fired.
In her statement on X, Murkowski cited controversies that have occurred during Blanche’s leadership, including the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and a controversial “anti-weaponisation fund” created by a settlement between Trump and the government.
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski wrote.
“I hope Mr Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Blanche had previously pledged he would walk back the nearly $2bn fund after blowback from Republican senators during his confirmation hearings.
The fund was planned to provide compensation to individuals who alleged government persecution but critics including Murkowski feared it would go to individuals who were prosecuted for participating in the 6 January 2021 attack on Congress.
Trump and Blanche have said the president and his family could not draw on the fund.
Another condition of the IRS settlement gave Trump certain immunity from audits.
Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican facing a tough re-election battle this year, said this week she would not vote for Blanche.
Murkowski’s decision leaves Blanche’s nomination teetering on a knife’s edge.
Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the 100-person chamber, but Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has been absent due to illness.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his Louisiana primary this year after Trump backed his challenger, has yet to say whether he will support Blanche.
