Todd Blanche picked up an important GOP vote Tuesday for his nomination as attorney general — Sen. John Curtis of Utah — likely leaving him just one vote shy of securing confirmation.
But he won’t be able to count on the support of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who said in her own statement Tuesday that she had concerns about “several actions that have further eroded the [Justice] Department’s independence” and would oppose him.
Collins specifically mentioned his role in a controversial IRS settlement with President Donald Trump and having “promised an anti-abortion organization that he would seek to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication to women nationwide.” She is facing a difficult race for reelection in a state that has voted against Trump three times.
Curtis said in a statement he plans to support Blanche and was pleased with the nominee’s “receptivity and understanding” of issues raised, including ending the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created under the May settlement Blanche helped broker.
