Politics · Senate vote · ArchiveMurkowski's No Leaves Trump's AG Pick Hanging by One VoteAired August 7, 2026 at 10:59 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Senator Bill Cassidy said Friday he0:01[music] will vote to confirm Todd0:03Blanche as Attorney General, giving0:05President Donald Trump's nominee the0:06margin to survive [music] after Senators0:08Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins pledged0:11to vote against him, according to CNN0:13metadata and reporting. ABC [music]0:14News correspondent Jay O'Brien said the0:17math leaves the nomination hanging by a0:18thread. If both [music] Murkowski and0:20Collins vote no, Blanche cannot afford0:22to lose any other Republicans, and0:24Cassidy's announcement [music] Friday is0:26therefore decisive. Murkowski anchored0:29her opposition in distrust of written0:31assurances from Blanche, [music]0:32saying once the vote happens, those0:34assurances will end and the future is0:36uncertain. ABC's Jay O'Brien reported0:39the fund was the core of her objection,0:41>> [music]0:41>> describing it as its own paragraph in0:43her statement, and a major factor in her0:45decision to oppose Blanche. She said she0:48is keenly aware the nearly $2 billion0:50anti-weaponization fund [music] is only0:52off the table because the nomination is0:54pending, and she does not trust0:55Blanche's written [music] assurances it0:57is fully dead will hold after a vote. If0:59confirmed, Blanche would lead the1:01Justice Department [music] that controls1:03the disputed fund, its spending, and any1:05future compensation decisions. [music]1:07Murkowski also cited Epstein and the1:09immunity deal President Trump obtained1:11after suing his own IRS, according to1:14O'Brien. O'Brien [music] reported a1:16second layer that could alter the count1:18with emphasis on possibility. Murkowski1:20could pair her vote with absent Senator1:22[music] Mitch McConnell, essentially1:24canceling each other out. If that1:26pairing occurs, O'Brien said the vote1:28math would change [music] and could1:29allow Cassidy to vote no if he chose.1:32The scenario remains speculative with1:34low [music] certainty and has not been1:35confirmed by the senators.1:43Counterweight came from former Attorney1:44[music] General Bill Barr, who endorsed1:46Blanche with that assessment, according1:48to CNN's Kaitlan Polantz. Cassidy's1:50[music] role carries history. According1:52to ABC News, he voted to convict1:54President Trump in Trump's [music]1:55second impeachment trial when Trump was1:57not convicted, making his Friday1:59decision to back Trump's [music]2:00attorney general pick a reversal of his2:02prior break with the president. What2:04remains unresolved is whether the2:05pairing with McConnell [music]2:06materializes and whether Blanche's2:08written assurances on the2:09anti-weaponization fund [music] hold2:11beyond the vote. The distrust Murkowski2:13made central to her opposition now to be2:16tested on the Senate floor, where2:17Cassidy's yes currently provides the2:19margin.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗