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On Friday, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana took to the Senate floor to announce his intent to vote for Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general. Cassidy’s support almost certainly means that Blanche, who faced tough questioning from even some of Cassidy’s fellow Republicans over his loyalty to the president, will be confirmed as the country’s chief law-enforcement officer.

Cassidy, who lost his reelection bid this year after voting in 2021 to convict Trump over Jan. 6, seemed hyperaware of his swing-vote status. For six minutes and 30 seconds, he laid out his case for confirming Blanche. But it turned out to be a weak case, one that falls apart under the weight of its own contradictions, omissions, and leaps of logic. Today’s newsletter offers a close reading.

Cassidy opened with an attempt to reframe the debate. “Mr. Blanche has become a referendum on how people feel about President Trump,” he said. “I have not approached it that way.” Instead, Cassidy continued, the vote should hinge on how Blanche “will go forward in a difficult job.”

But there’s a reason people see Blanche’s nomination that way, even if Cassidy prefers not to. Before elevating Blanche, Trump fired the previous attorney general, Pam Bondi, in part because she failed to prosecute his political opponents fast enough. Trump seems to view Blanche as someone he can more easily control, which makes Cassidy’s choice to confirm him inextricable from the president’s efforts to bend the department to his will.

Cassidy next noted that Blanche, who has led the Department of Justice in an acting capacity since April, could continue to do so even if senators reject him. Then he argued that a Senate stamp of approval will give Blanche “greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed for” in the form of buy-in from rank-and-file department staff—and “more leverage to push back” on the president.

Whether Blanche will meaningfully stand up to Trump remains to be seen; despite trying to distance himself during his confirmation hearing, Blanche at one point accidentally called himself the president’s lawyer. But setting that aside, it’s........

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