Todd Blanche’s Nomination on Thin Ice Thanks to Lisa Murkowski

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski announced Friday that she would not support acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to permanently take on the role.

Murkowski laid out her concerns that, as head of the Department of Justice, Blanche would fail to check the Trump administration’s “worst impulses.”

“The politicization—even weaponization—of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” she wrote in a statement. “I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.”

Then Murkowski called Blanche’s bluff about Donald Trump’s so-called “anti-weaponization fund.” The Alaska Republican claimed that the money was clearly headed for January 6 rioters, and was “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,” she wrote.

Murkowski joins Maine Senator Susan Collins in opposing Blanche’s nomination. Now, all eyes are on Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, whose vote could sink Blanche’s confirmation. Cassidy has voiced his concerns about lawfare at the Department of Justice, and been an outspoken critic of Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. Blanche met with Murkowski and Cassidy on Capitol Hill Wednesday, but it was clearly not enough to convince at least Murkowski.

If Cassidy refuses to support Blanche before the August recess, he would still continue to serve as acting Attorney General. But the failure would represent a major blow to Trump’s grip on Republicans.

An endorsement from President Donald Trump wasn’t enough for Republican Representative Andy Ogles, who lost his primary election in Tennessee Thursday night.

Former state agricultural commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who won endorsements from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, former Governor Bill Haslam, and other Republicans such as former Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, was able to take advantage of better fundraising and ad spending. 

But a key factor in the race was Tennessee’s newly redrawn congressional districts, which state Republicans pushed through after the Supreme Court’s April ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act. Tennessee used to have one majority-Black district, its 9th congressional district, but that was broken apart and absorbed into the state’s other majority-Republican districts, including Ogles’s 5th district. In Thursday’s primary, 82 percent of the district’s voters were newly added.  

Ogles has faced a myriad of scandals and controversies in office. He claimed earlier this year that “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” he’s faced ethics concerns over how he handled campaign funds, he’s lied about his college education, and he raised money to build a garden for his stillborn child that was never built. 

Two years ago, the FBI even executed a search warrant on Ogles related to his financial misdeeds, seizing his phone in the process. In May this year, however, Trump’s Department of Justice signaled that it was wrapping up the probe, doing Ogles a solid in time for the midterms. Ultimately, it didn’t win Ogles any favors from his new constituents, who sent him packing. 

The Democratic National Committee is blaming a late property tax bill on a procedural issue, the latest in a sequence of blunders from the party’s executive leadership.

The DNC owes the District of Columbia more than $300,000 in property taxes, interest and penalties on its flagship headquarters in Washington, D.C., accruing debt over six months. The building itself is valued at $12.1 million.

“The processing issue resulted from standard fraud prevention practices, and we are promptly addressing it,” DNC spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told USA Today.

Tax records show a $147,000 bill—with $23,000 in late fees—from February 17, with a due date of March 31. The records show someone from the DNC making a property tax payment of $166,700 on July 23, only to have it declined. And on Tuesday, the DNC received a penalty for nonsufficient funds. In total, the organization owed D.C. $313,000 as of Thursday.

This news comes at a time of internal dysfunction at the DNC, as calls for Chairman Ken Martin’s resignation grow louder as the committee is already $18.5 million in debt, still reeling from both a New York Times report detailing a paranoia-driven, phone-throwing outburst by Martin in July, as well as news of a staffer being scammed out of nearly $29,000 by an email from someone pretending to be Martin. It really couldn’t get much worse, especially with massively consequential midterm elections less than three months away. This recent string of events does not inspire hope.

“The question is not whether or not Ken should go,” Leaders We Deserve President David Hogg told The New Republic late last month. “The question is how much longer can we afford to keep him, because this is not sustainable.”

MAGA world is unloading on Ohio Representative Max Miller.

Senator Tim Sheehy tore into the Trump-backed congressman on Thursday, deriding him as a “degenerate sociopath.”

“What kind of person would treat their daughter this way?” Sheehy wrote on X, referring to a recent incident in which Miller allegedly withheld his child’s favorite toy, seemingly out of spite. “This guy is clearly a degenerate sociopath.”

“Max should step aside and seek help,” Sheehy continued. “Staying in this race makes it far more likely we lose this seat and hand Democrats a majority to impeach President Trump.”

Miller stands accused of physically abusing his ex-wife and two-year-old child. Court filings and police reports detail incidents in which Miller allegedly threw his ex-wife against a wall, tossed scalding water on her, and held a gun to her head. Medical records submitted during the couple’s custody dispute also cited several injuries to their young daughter, including a broken collarbone that allegedly occurred during Miller’s care.

Stephanie Grisham, who briefly served as a White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s first term and dated Miller between 2019 and 2020, has also accused him of physical abuse.

The charges have made Miller a remarkably unpopular person, tanking his odds at the polls. Nonetheless, he has refused to back down, insisting on staying in the race through the November election.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Miller told CNN Wednesday.

Trump has similarly refused to peel back his endorsement for the second-term MAGA lawmaker. On Monday, Trump insisted to reporters that Miller is a “good person.”

“I mean I always thought he was a very good person. And I’m going to let the families figure that out,” Trump said. “It’s accusations, and I’m going to let them figure that out.”

The situation has sparked some high tension between Miller and his ultraconservative colleagues, who are also fretting over the possibility of losing their congressional majority.

There seem to be three possible options for the contentious Ohio race: Miller withdraws himself to make way for a new nominee (which he must do by Saturday), or the Ohio Republican Party certifies a replacement nominee, which they would need to do by Monday. Otherwise, Miller will stay on the ballot.

President Donald Trump’s new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention thinks the government should know if you’ve had an abortion.

During her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Dr. Erica Schwartz committed to improving “abortion surveillance,” despite advocates’ insistence that federal tracking violates patient privacy and undermines access.

“Abortion surveillance is absolutely a critical component of what the CDC is currently doing,” Schwartz told lawmakers.

“I also want to make sure that certain states are not conflating emergency services and hiding abortions in that emergency services case definition,” she continued. “We need to make sure we’re pulling out true abortions and making sure that we’re really having clear case definitions regarding abortions so the data is actually accurate.”

There is no factual evidence suggesting that states are “hiding” or purposefully misreporting information about abortions to the CDC, HuffPost reported Thursday. The CDC’s data collection on abortion is currently voluntary, meaning that certain states, such as California, New Jersey, and Maryland, don’t report annual abortion numbers to the federal government.

Schwartz’s comment is especially preposterous because in states with abortion bans, the clear case definitions between abortion and emergency services are acutely felt.

Hospitals in states with abortion bans were more likely to violate federal life-saving rules and delay treatment for pregnancy-related emergencies. It’s for this reason that pregnant people living in states with abortion bans face a significantly higher risk of death than those in other areas of the country.

Mini Timmaraju, the president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, released a statement saying that Schwartz’s confirmation “cements an anti-abortion agenda at the center of the CDC’s work, rather than containing outbreaks and keeping the public safe.”

Last month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche promised that he was working with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the Dobbs decision would become “permanent” nationwide. Now, Schwartz may be part of the push.

The commitment to ramp up abortion monitoring comes also amid a renaissance in dystopian surveillance technology brought on by the Trump administration—and nationwide revolt against such tech.