MIKE DAVIS: Chuck Grassley's behind-the-scenes work proved decisive in Todd Blanche confirmation fight
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Video Sen. Bill Cassidy announces 'yes' vote on Todd Blanche nomination Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana, secures support for Todd Blanche's nomination as attorney general by announcing his critical yes vote on the Senate floor. Chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram breaks down how Cassidy's decision impacts the upcoming Department of Justice confirmation process.
By voting to confirm Todd Blanche as the 88th Attorney General of the United States, Senate Republicans delivered a major victory for President Donald Trump, the American people and the rule of law. Blanche will fulfill President Trump’s mandate to Make America Safe Again. The key cabinet confirmation provides much-needed unity and momentum for Trump and Senate Republicans — and a good opportunity for Trump to hard-reset his relationship with the Senate, so they can go on offense this fall.
Blanche’s proven track record as the deputy and acting attorney general leaves no doubt that Trump nominated the right man, at the right time, for the right job. But with full Democrat opposition, Blanche’s confirmation process was tougher than it should have been given his unmatched experience and sterling qualifications. Blanche is a longtime former federal prosecutor in the most prestigious U.S. attorney’s office and Big Law partner in New York City who put everything on the line to defend Trump against Biden’s unprecedented, republic-ending lawfare. Blanche helped Trump beat this. Trump now sits in the White House instead of a federal prison cell, running our country instead of appealing his bogus convictions.
For the last 17 months, Blanche has brought reforms and accountability to the Justice Department — so the Democrats’ politicized and weaponized injustice never happens again. These reforms and accountability must and will continue. Blanche will continue to take the Justice Department back to its most crucial basics: arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning violent criminals, government fraudsters and other real criminals — instead of hunting down parents, Christians and other political opponents like we witnessed under the Obama and Biden Justice Departments.
FILE - Todd Blanche, nominee for U.S. deputy attorney general, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on February 12. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Getting here wasn’t easy. There were bumps in the road and moments when the confirmation looked like it could stall. The reason it didn’t, and the reason Blanche is now America’s confirmed attorney general, is Sen. Chuck Grassley , R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
When the nomination hit headwinds from Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., both of whom raised good-faith concerns, it was Grassley who stepped in. He meditated. He bridged the gap. He kept all parties at the table. And he got the deal done.
Likewise, when Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., had principled objections to DOJ policy, he worked with Grassley, other Senate colleagues and the Trump administration to find a workable resolution. Susie Wiles, Trump’s highly respected White House chief of staff, is always the invaluable glue.
Blanche closed the deal with his personal diplomacy, as he demonstrated to Cassidy he is uniquely qualified. Cassidy deserves great credit for his willingness to put his country over personal differences. That’s what the Senate process looks like when it works. And it worked here because the right people were in the right roles.
No one did more to get Blanche confirmed than Grassley. Grassley works; Grassley delivers — especially for Trump. Whether it is nominations, taxes, trade or almost all the rest of Trump’s greatest Senate accomplishments, Grassley is the key. He never brags about it. Grassley just quietly works hard and gets the job done.
FILE - Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, convened the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for a vote on Blanche's nomination. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This is Grassley’s fourth Republican attorney general he’s confirmed as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He brought more than four decades of institutional knowledge and experience from working on more than fifteen attorney general nominations since joining the committee. Grassley knows how to move a nomination through a committee full of competing agendas and a swamp press corps hungry for a Republican scalp.
In a town full of politicians looking to take credit for others’ work, Grassley stands out. He’s a work horse, not a show horse. Grassley exemplifies Iowa humility, so someone else has to brag for him. Blanche is now attorney general thanks to Grassley . And now Blanche can get back to work, fully Senate confirmed, continuing to help Trump Make America Safe Again.
The numbers don’t lie. The U.S. is approaching the lowest murder rate recorded since at least 1900. That’s according to the FBI’s own data, backed by the Council on Criminal Justice’s finding of a 21% drop in homicides from 2024 to 2025, with another 18% drop in the first half of 2026. We are living through a historic collapse in violent crime on President Trump’s watch.
Migrant encounters at the southern border hit their lowest level in more than 50 years, down from over two million under Biden to numbers not seen since 1970, according to Pew Research. We have control of our borders. Drug smuggling networks are being dismantled. Human traffickers are being prosecuted. Dangerous criminals — the ones Obama and Biden were too busy targeting conservatives to actually pursue — are being put away.
Biden and Obama treated the Department of Justice as a political weapon. And they pointed it at Trump. They pointed it at his allies. They pointed it at parents at school board meetings. They pointed it at Christians. Real criminals walked free while Democrats weaponized federal law enforcement against their…
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