[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 130 (Friday, August 7, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4533-S4534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Todd Blanche

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to the nomination 
of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General.
  Over the last several days, I have heard from lots of people sharing 
their views on this nomination, and most of the time it is clear Mr. 
Blanche has become a referendum on how people feel about President 
Trump. If you don't like the President, you don't like Mr. Blanche, and 
if you do like the President, you do.
  I have not approached it this way. This process should be about Mr. 
Blanche and how he will go forward in a difficult job and how the 
American people can be best served. I have a history with Mr. Trump, 
but that history does not matter one bit.
  On the one hand, Mr. Blanche does not need to be Senate-confirmed. He 
can continue to serve at the pleasure of the President as Deputy 
Attorney General or even Acting Attorney General if this vote is 
pulled. On the other hand, I am told that Senate confirmation is 
important in interactions with the President, with others in the 
Cabinet, and is important to DOJ employees, in general. Being Senate-
confirmed gives him greater leverage to push for things that should be 
pushed for.
  This does not demean the Senate's role. Important issues have been 
discussed through this process, and Mr. Blanche has made commitments.
  Now on to the specific nomination. Since Mr. Blanche passed out of 
Judiciary Committee on August 4, I have spoken to Mr. Blanche five or 
six times. We have texted many more. I just got off the phone with him. 
I have spoken multiple times to Senators Murkowski, Cornyn, and Tillis. 
Senator Whitehouse shared his concerns. Additionally, I spoke with 
current and past administration officials, including a long 
conversation with former Attorney General Bill Barr. Late last night, I 
spoke to two U.S. attorneys from Louisiana: David Courcelle and Kurt 
Wall. Of course, there has been a lot to read and a lot to consider, 
and I slept on it overnight.
  Let's start with the concerns. Mr. Blanche showed poor judgment in 
approving the anti-weaponization slush fund and exempting the President 
from IRS audits. No American should be unfairly targeted by the law, 
but no American should be above the law. Mr. Blanche said these were 
mistakes, and he has made efforts to kill the slush fund.
  I am particularly concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare--DOJ 
bringing suits against political enemies. Presidents of both parties 
have been guilty of this. It must stop. It should stop now. A never-
ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of 
law, degrades the public's trust in our institutions, and makes our 
politics more extreme when we need to unite to solve the big problems 
of our time. I am not entirely satisfied where this is, and I have no 
doubts that I will have concern in the future. I will note that I have 
learned that some of the cases that are publicly reported to be under 
investigation by the Department of Justice have been dismissed or are 
no longer being pursued.
  I am realistic that President Trump can be unrelenting on this, but 
this would be true no matter who the Attorney General is, and this is 
the rationale for having a Senate-confirmed Attorney General with more 
leverage to push back.
  I will also note that Mr. Blanche is criticized for things over which 
he has no control. He points out that he has been criticized for 
Presidential pardons given to January 6 rioters, some of whom assaulted 
police officers. Many of us were here then. But this is a Presidential 
prerogative, and he is not the President.
  He also points out that he can advise the President, but the 
President is not obligated to take his advice. That is the same thing 
that former Attorney General Barr said in a separate conversation. I 
can absolutely believe that President Trump, at times, would not take 
advice.
  But even critics admit that Mr. Blanche knows the law and is a hands-
on administrator. He has instructed U.S. attorneys to focus on violent 
crime, human and drug trafficking, and fraud in programs like Medicare 
and Medicaid. Mr. Courcelle, the U.S. attorney in New Orleans, said 
that when he needed extra resources, Acting Attorney General Blanche 
provided them to finish a big drug case.
  Both Mr. Courcelle and Mr. Wall said the DOJ has accountability 
measures for each prosecutor in their office and that there are weekly 
calls between their offices and DOJ to review the performance of each 
prosecutor; that morale is high not despite the accountability measures 
but because of the accountability measures; and more cases were being 
processed and convictions being obtained. David Courcelle spoke of 
almost $1 billion in fraud being recovered for the U.S. taxpayer from 
healthcare fraud.

[[Page S4534]]

  Both men said that having a permanent, Senate-confirmed Attorney 
General was important. I cannot overstate Mr. Walls' and Mr. 
Courcelle's support for Mr. Blanche.

  When former Attorney General Bill Barr endorsed Mr. Blanche, he said 
Mr. Blanche ``will run the department as effectively as anyone could 
under President Trump.'' Some called that faint praise. I don't think 
that it is; I think it is a reality.
  Barr specifically addressed the allegation that Mr. Blanche would be 
a yes-man for the President. He said that any attorney, to represent 
the client well, has to have tough conversations and confront a client 
with difficult truths; that because of his previous attorney-client 
relationship with President Trump, Mr. Blanche would be precisely the 
person to push back on President Trump but that ultimately--and here 
Barr echoed what I have heard from Blanche--decisions are made by the 
President.
  Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this. But the choice 
is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche; it is between Mr. Blanche 
and another Acting Attorney General who may not run the Department 
effectively under President Trump and who, indeed, may not be as good 
as Mr. Blanche. This puts at risk the progress made fighting violent 
crime, human and drug trafficking, and fraud, and this does not serve 
the American people well.
  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. I will be criticized for this vote--what is 
new?--but the people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to 
understand the issue and to make the right decision.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oregon.