Republican Resistance Grows Against Trump’s DOJ Pick

Senator Lisa Murkowski said she will oppose Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination, tightening the path for President Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.

Quick Take

Murkowski said she will vote against Blanche after weeks of Senate wrangling.
Her move narrows President Trump’s margin in the full Senate.
Blanche already cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 12-10 party-line vote.
The fight centered on a disputed IRS settlement and an anti-weaponization fund.

Why Murkowski’s Vote Matters

Murkowski’s announcement matters because Blanche can afford only a small number of Republican defections on the Senate floor. Democrats are expected to oppose him as a bloc, so every Republican vote now carries real weight. Reuters and other outlets reported that Blanche had already won over key holdouts in committee, but the full Senate fight remains tight and politically charged.

Blanche’s team had already spent days trying to lock down Republican support before the latest setback. ABC News reported that Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis supported moving Blanche forward after securing assurances tied to President Trump’s IRS settlement and the proposed anti-weaponization fund. That deal helped Blanche clear a major hurdle, but Murkowski’s opposition shows the nomination is still vulnerable.

The Senate Fight Behind the Nomination

The Blanche battle has followed a familiar Senate pattern. A nominee moves forward only after party leaders patch over internal disputes, then faces a final vote shaped by those same bargain points. In this case, the disputes centered on whether the Trump administration would keep pressing an anti-weaponization fund and how the IRS settlement would be handled. Those issues gave Republican senators leverage and turned the nomination into a test of influence.

Reporting from Associated Press and CBS News said the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Blanche on a 12-10 party-line vote after Republican holdouts were satisfied with his commitments. The committee result gave Trump a win, but it did not end the fight. Murkowski’s new position makes the floor vote harder and shows that even after committee approval, the White House still has work to do.

What Comes Next In The Confirmation Fight

Blanche’s fate now depends on whether Republican leadership can keep enough senators in line. Politico reported that several GOP senators were still weighing the vote even after the committee breakthrough, which means the final count may stay in flux until the last moment. ABC News also noted that if both Collins and Murkowski oppose Blanche, Republicans have almost no room for more defections.

NEW: Another Republican senator is a NO on Todd Blanche.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she will oppose President Trump's pick for attorney general, saying she lacks confidence Blanche can "check the worst impulses of this administration."

She now joins Maine Sen. Susan…

— HTH ✨🌏🏠 (@HotTakeHome) August 7, 2026

The larger lesson is simple: Senate confirmations still reward leverage, and this one is no exception. Blanche’s allies won a short-term victory by calming committee conservatives, but Murkowski’s opposition shows how quickly that support can fray. For Trump, the episode is another reminder that even in a Republican-led Senate, a controversial nominee must still survive internal resistance before reaching final confirmation.