An absence in the U.S. Senate by one Democrat could give President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department an easier path to victory.
Punchbowl News reporter Laura Weiss posted on X that Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Az.) is out of the office after his wife underwent emergency surgery.
“Yesterday, my wife underwent an emergency appendectomy. While she is doing well, I will be home helping with recovery. During this time, I will likely miss a few votes and committee hearings. There’s still work to be done before the Senate departs for August recess, and my office is still hard at work. I will be back on Capitol Hill as soon as I can be,” said Gallego in a post on X.
As Weiss explained, “If Sen. Gallego is out for Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote, it significantly changes the math for Senate GOP leaders.”
She noted that due to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) absence, the GOP could only afford to lose two Republicans, as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has already indicated she is a “no” on Blanche.
“If Gallego is out too, GOP leaders can lose 3 Republican votes and still have [Vice President JD] Vance cast a tie-breaking vote. That means Republicans would be okay even if both final holdouts — Sens. [Lisa] Murkowski (R-Ak.) and [Bill] Cassidy (R-Ark.) — are no’s.”
Both Cassidy and Murkowski met with Blanche on Wednesday morning “as they weigh whether to support Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general,” ABC News reports.
According to the report, Cassidy took issue with Blanche using the federal government to go after Trump’s enemies.
“I am very concerned about so-called lawfare — people being prosecuted not for a valid reason beyond somebody in high office being angry at them,” Cassidy said.
“I’ve got to be convinced that [Blanche] is an attorney general who just happens to have once been President Trump’s personal attorney, as opposed to President Trump’s personal attorney who is now the attorney general. I think there’s a big difference between the two,” Cassidy told The Briefing with Steve Scully.