GOP grapples with misconduct allegations against two lawmakers
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What is the opening political roundup and who are the main hosts of the episode?
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President Trump's pick to be attorney general is one step closer to getting the job. But it came down to the wire. That's where we will start our roundup of this week's political news. It's the NPR Politics Podcast. We're taping this at 12 32 PM Eastern Time on Friday, August 7th. I'm Tamra Keith, I cover politics. I'm Tipa Shivaram, I cover the White House. And I'm Carrie Johnson. I cover the Justice Department in the Supreme Court. Todd Blanche, the current acting attorney general, has been lobbying senators for votes this week. Democrats are opposed, and a couple of Republicans came out against the pick. Who did and why?
Yeah, Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who's in a tough reelection battle, came out and said that she was opposed to Blanche in part because of the role he played in generating that nearly one point eight billion dollar slush fund um designed for people who had been the victims of weaponization by the Biden Justice Department, maybe even January sixth rioters. She also cited Blanche's alleged promise to an anti abortion group that he would do what he could to uh bar the mailing of abortion medication to women across the country. Uh another person who came out against Blanche earlier this morning is Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska. Murkowski basically said that she does not have confidence that Todd Blanche, the former personal lawyer to President Trump, will check President Trump's worst impulses.
So with Collins and Murkowski out, the margins were incredibly slim for this nomination, especially because Senator Mitch McConnell is still uh out because of ongoing health concerns, which left it all to Senator Bill Cassidy, the outgoing senator from Louisiana. And after some back and forth this morning on the floor of the Senate, he announced that he would be supporting Blanche.
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'll be criticized for this vote. What's new?
Carrie, we should explain why. He says what's new. He's taken at least one other vote where he was the deciding vote to confirm RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary. And since then, Kennedy has taken a number of actions that Cassidy disagrees with strenuously and was assured would not happen. Carrie, what are the very specific circumstances here that Cassidy is talking about?
Senator Cassidy said he had been on the phone with Todd Blanche five or six times, including right before Cassidy went uh to the Senate floor to say he would in fact vote for Todd Blanche. Wow. And he said there had been other text exchanges as well. He also talked about being on the phone for a long time with the former attorney general during the first Trump administration, Bill Barr, who's argued that the Senate should confirm Todd Blanche because anybody's a good thing. Else would be worse. And that argument really seemed to be persuasive to Senator Cassidy. Senator Cassidy said he wasn't a fan of the slush fund. He wasn't a fan of this tax immunity deal. Uh the Justice Department appears to have tried to broker.
uh for President Trump and two of his sons and and the Trump company. But Cassidy said he did like Todd Blanche's work on violent crime and human trafficking and healthcare fraud. And he said that he thought that Blanche would be able to stand up to the president and give him honest advice. Now, whether the president will actually take that advice is an open question for Bill Cassidy, but he landed on yes after a few hours of suspense. Deepa
Uh I assume the White House is very happy with this. We haven't really heard from him about this yet, although I'm sure we will uh in the coming hours and definitely in the coming days, because as you pointed out, this is something that, you know, a lot of people were waiting on to see how Senator Cassidy uh would weigh in on this.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the opening political roundup and who are the main hosts of the episode?
0:00–5:13
2
Why is Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general so contentious and which senators are split on it?
5:13–11:48
3
How did Senator Bill Cassidy’s vote secure Todd Blanche’s confirmation?
11:48–30:05
4
What does a Senate committee vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress mean?
30:05–32:35