Todd Blanche Nomination Advances After GOP Senators Cave to Trump

Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis initially looked like they’d hold out against the nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Todd Blanche to run the Justice Department Tuesday, advancing Blanche’s nomination for attorney general to the Senate floor.

Democrats on the committee dissented, arguing that Donald Trump’s blindly loyal former personal attorney should not have the keys to America’s top law enforcement agency.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse remarked that it was a “sad and embarrassing day for this committee,” right before Blanche’s nomination moved forward solely on a party-line vote. Whitehouse noted that Blanche was “probably the most discreditable person ever to seek the office of attorney general of the United States.”

Outgoing Republican Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, who held up Blanche’s nomination until the acting attorney general vaguely assured them he would end Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund, ultimately cracked under the pressure and fell in line with their party earlier this week.

Yet even Blanche’s former colleagues could see that he wasn’t right for the monumental role. Prior to the vote, hundreds of federal prosecutors urged the Senate to reject Blanche’s bid. In a joint memo, the cohort questioned whether the Justice Department would continue to exist as an entity that serves the American people—and whether the American people would continue to have faith in its abilities to serve them—if it remained under Blanche’s control.

They cited Blanche’s willingness to fire career prosecutors and FBI agents to satisfy Trump’s political interests, his belief that Trump has a “right” and a “duty” to shape federal probes, his mishandling of the Epstein files and repeat refusals to meet with the sex trafficker’s victims, and the DOJ’s $1.8 billion slush fund as just a handful of examples that have so far tanked their faith in Blanche’s abilities to remain independent of the White House.

This story has been updated.

Trump Secretary Filmed a Reality TV Show. It Still Hasn’t Aired.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy basically took a paid vacation with his family.

What ever happened to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s reality television show sponsored by the companies he regulates?

In May, Duffy announced that The Great American Road Trip, starring the secretary and his family, would premiere the following month. The five-part docuseries was planned in anticipation of the Fourth of July, and “aligned” with President Donald Trump’s sketchy Freedom 250 celebration. Now summer vacation is almost over, and Duffy’s show never actually aired.

The disappearance of the show has been accompanied by a social media blackout on the topic, suggesting Duffy’s road trip won’t make it to screens anytime soon.

The official Great American Road Trip X account has continued to post generic travel content but has not mentioned the show since May 8. Duffy hasn’t posted about the show on X since May 13, and the Department of Transportation doesn’t appear to have made a single post on X mentioning the........

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