Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican long known for bucking her party and President Donald Trump, dealt another setback to the administration Friday by announcing she will vote against confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general.
The move comes as the senator faces abysmal approval numbers back home that raise serious questions about her political future in the 2028 cycle.
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In a statement released early Friday, Murkowski said she had “numerous constructive meetings” with Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney who has served as acting attorney general since April, and that she found him “decent and capable.”
Yet she declared she would oppose the nomination, citing what she called the “politicization—even weaponization—of the Department” that “has accelerated” under the Trump administration.
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Murkowski specifically took issue with the Justice Department’s handling of the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sweeping immunity protections granted to the president, his family, and their businesses, and statements made to anti-abortion groups.
She also zeroed in on the Department’s nearly $2 billion “anti-weaponization” fund—derided by critics as a potential slush fund that could have rewarded January 6 protesters—arguing it is “only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage. Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”
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“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski wrote.
“I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case,” Murkowski added.
The opposition leaves Blanche’s path to confirmation in jeopardy.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, but Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky remains sidelined by health issues, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has already declared she will vote no.
All Democrats are expected to oppose the nominee, meaning another Republican defection—potentially from Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who remains undecided—could sink the nomination of the man Trump tapped to lead the Justice Department permanently after firing Pam Bondi.
Blanche, who previously served as deputy attorney general, has been a key figure in the administration’s efforts to reverse what conservatives widely view as the prior weaponization of federal law enforcement against Trump and his allies.
His confirmation had cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee 12-10 this week after he pledged to scrap the controversial fund, yet holdouts like Murkowski continue to prioritize institutional concerns over the president’s clear mandate.
This latest defiance fits a familiar pattern for the Alaska senator, who has repeatedly frustrated Republican voters by crossing party lines on high-stakes issues.
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It also arrives against the backdrop of deeply troubling polling data that underscore how far she has drifted from the state’s conservative base.
The most recent detailed statewide survey from Alaska Survey Research, among 1,415 respondents, found just 31.3% of Alaskans approve of the job Murkowski is doing as U.S. senator, while 51.7% disapprove and 17% are unsure—a net rating of roughly -20.
Favorability numbers in the same poll were similarly weak: 12% very positive and 25.6% somewhat positive, against 22.8% somewhat negative and 32.8% very negative.
These figures mark a continuation of the steep decline first captured in Alaska Survey Research’s July 2025 tracking, which showed Murkowski at 33% positive and 60% negative, down sharply from a nearly even 47-44 split earlier that year.
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Conservatives in particular have rated her negatively at consistently high rates for years.
Her 2022 reelection victory over Kelly Tshibaka relied on ranked-choice voting and outside support that drew a formal censure from the Alaska Republican Party against Mitch McConnell’s PAC.
With her Senate term running through 2028, the numbers suggest Murkowski enters the next cycle in a precarious position.
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Alaska’s independent-minded electorate has rewarded her brand of moderation in the past, but sustained disapproval above 50% and a collapsed progressive-moderate coalition that once buoyed her leave little room for error.
Analysts note that without recovering support among the very voters who have soured on her post-2024 shifts, a primary challenge or independent run could prove formidable in the Last Frontier’s unique electoral system.
White House officials called Murkowski’s decision “disappointing” while defending Blanche as “exceptionally qualified.”
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
