By Nathaniel "Beltway" Steele
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general and President Trump's former personal lawyer, appears headed for Senate confirmation to the top job at the Justice Department after Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana endorsed him Friday.
Cassidy's backing matters because Blanche's path had not been assured. CBS News reported that Blanche looked likely to "squeak by" his confirmation despite concerns among some senators over the direction of the Justice Department under his leadership — concerns the network did not detail further in the material available to this desk, and which we flag rather than characterize.
Blanche represented Trump in his criminal defense before joining the administration, a resume line that has drawn scrutiny from critics who question whether a former personal attorney to the president can credibly lead an agency meant to operate independently of the White House. Supporters counter that presidents have long nominated loyalists to the post and that Senate confirmation itself is the check on the choice.
We do not have the full list of senators who have declared their positions, the committee vote tally, or a floor vote date. Those are the numbers that will actually decide this, and this paper will report them when they're official rather than guess at them now.
If confirmed, Blanche would take permanent control of a department currently being run on an acting basis — a distinction with real legal consequences for the authority he can exercise until the Senate acts.
Read the footnotes. The story's always in the footnotes.
— Compiled from reporting by CBS News.
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