When the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination this week, President Donald Trump’s former defense attorney still lacked the votes he needed to be confirmed. Attention shifted to four Senate Republicans who were still on the fence.

Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah soon did what he usually does and announced that he would vote with his party. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, however, went the other way and said she would oppose Blanche’s nomination.

At that point, the arithmetic became straightforward: With one incumbent, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, ailing and his return date still uncertain, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania opposed to the nominee, Blanche would need the support of both of the two remaining GOP holdouts, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski.

On Friday morning, Murkowski issued a statement announcing her opposition to Blanche. It reads, in part:

The politicization — even weaponization — of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it. I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.

I am also keenly aware that the Department’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund — which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters — is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage. Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.

The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.

This leaves Cassidy, whose career the president helped end in a primary fight earlier this year and who has shown increasing independence in recent months. He appeared rather skeptical of Blanche in comments to reporters last week, which he reiterated on Wednesday morning, saying he remains undecided.

In an interview that aired on SiriusXM, the Louisianan expressed concern over what he described as “lawfare,” describing it as people being prosecuted “not for a valid reason, but because somebody in high office is angry at them.”

As for the timing, Senate Republican leaders planned to confirm Blanche before starting the chamber’s summer break on Friday, though if the nominee doesn’t yet have the votes, the process may very well be delayed.

No Cabinet secretary nominee has lost a Senate confirmation vote since 1989, although plenty have been withdrawn. Will Blanche break the streak? Watch this space.

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