Susan

Aug. 7 (UPI) — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Friday became the second Republican senator to say she’ll vote against Todd Blanche’s nomination for U.S. attorney general, putting his confirmation further at risk.

Murkowski joins Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said Tuesday that she’ll vote against Blanche’s nomination. Blanche, President Donald Trump‘s pick for the role, is now acting attorney general.

Murkowski questioned if Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, would be an effective check against Trump if he’s confirmed as the leader of the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a social media post Friday, she listed various ways the Justice Department has been politicized and referred to the $1,776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund order that Blanche said he’s rescinded earlier this week.

“I am … keenly aware that the department’s nearly $2 billion dollar slush fund — which likely would have rewarded January 6 protestors — is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage,” Murkowski wrote. “Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.

“The country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

Collins also questioned Blanche’s independence and approval of the anti-weaponization fund — as well as its connected settlement agreement giving Trump and his family protection from tax investigations — in saying she will vote against the nomination.

Also, “more than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have opposed his nomination, arguing that he has undermined the institution,” Collins said in her statement Tuesday. “For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination.”

With Murkowski and Collins voting against the nomination, Sen.Mitch McConnell still absent from the Senate and all Democrats saying they’ll vote against him, Blanche can’t lose any more votes and be confirmed.

It is uncertain how Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, will vote. Cassidy has so far declined to comment on the question.

Before Blanche rescinded the $1,776 billion fund order, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn also said they’d vote against him. However, they reversed course on that Monday.

However, Trump said on social media Saturday — before Blanche issued his order on the fund – that if Blanche is not confirmed, he will remain acting attorney general and the fund “would immediately be back on the table,and I will get it done!”

Blanche has been in the acting attorney general role since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April.

Aug. 4 (UPI) — Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that she will vote against Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, further narrowing his path to confirmation.

“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political. Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation,” Collins, a Republican from Maine, said in a statement.

Collins cited Blanche’s handling of Trump’s anti-weaponization fund, his commitments to anti-abortion groups to restrict the mailing of abortion medication and the Justice Department’s failed attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a video encouraging active-duty service members to reject unlawful orders.

“For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination,” she said.

Trump tapped Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, to lead the Justice Department in June. He has served as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April.

But his confirmation as attorney general has been anything but smooth.

Collins’ announcemeent came hours after Blanche’s nomination was advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it had stalled after two Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — said they would not vote in his favor without written, binding proof that a so-called anti-weaponization fund had been rescinded. Blanche provided that proof late Sunday.

With his nomination advanced to the full Senate, he will require a majority vote to approve confirmation. However, all 45 Democrats and both independents are expected to vote against him. With Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., still absent and Collins stating she will not support his nomination, Blanche can afford to lose the support of only one additional Republican.

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, who had indicated he might not support Blanche, said Tuesday that, following “robust discussions” with the the acting attorney general, he would vote for him, leaving the votes of Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska unknown, neither of whom has commented.

Blanche has been criticized by Democrats, democracy advocates and legal experts for allegedly further politicizing the Justice Department and using the department to further Trump’s aims, including targeting the president’s perceived political opponents.

He approved the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund to distribute taxpayer money to those who claim to be victims of the Biden administration’s Justice Department, including those convicted on crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection of the Capitol.

The fund was part of a settlement reached to resolve a case Trump brought against the federal government seeking $10 billion in damages stemming from an Internal Revenue Service contractor leaking his tax returns to the press.

Democrats and even Republicans balked at the fund.

Also part of the deal was language protecting Trump, his two adult sons and the Trump Organization from certain audits.

Last month, more than 1,200 former DOJ employees spanning 14 administrations issued a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Blanche’s nomination, arguing that the consequences of his politicization of the department leave “communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected and our national security more vulnerable.”

In a book nerd battle that’s become so epic, even The Onion has satirized the saga, acclaimed author Susan Orlean has grabbed the mic, and Emily Wilson is admitting she has one regret in her review of “The Odyssey.”

Earlier this week, Joyce Carol Oates panned Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s big-screen adaptation, and now acclaimed author and journalist Susan Orlean has entered the chat.

“I loved The Odyssey (saw it twice) and love any piece of art that gets people talking and reading and thinking,” she posted on Threads on Thursday. “Emily Wilson is being a bit of a jerk.”

Choice words from Orlean, but she knows a thing or two about film adaptations: her 1998 book “The Orchid Thief” inspired Spike Jonze’s 2002 film “Adaptation” starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep (who played Orlean), and her 1998 article “Life’s Swell” was brought to screen as “Blue Crush,” also in 2002.

“Why can’t things be the things they are and if they’re different from their source material that’s their new form and their own thing and I SAY THIS FROM EXPERIENCE,” she added in a separate post.

The ire stems from a biting 4,200-word takedown of “The Odyssey” penned by classicist Wilson, who translated Homer’s poem in 2017.

In early interviews discussing the film, Nolan referenced Wilson’s translation, which subsequently skyrocketed in sales. A representative for Audible told The Times on Wednesday that, year over year, purchases of Wilson’s “Odyssey” translation were up by more than 600% across Audible’s U.S., U.K. and Canadian marketplaces.

Wilson’s review, published in the London Review of Books, essentially dubbed Nolan’s film a dud for academics with taste and a blockbuster hit for virgins who like special effects that go “Boom!”

“Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great. It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours,” she wrote. “It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”

Pulitzer Prize finalist Oates, like Orlean, is also team Nolan. “Her tone of dismissal & haughty superiority strike a sour note,” Oates said of Wilson’s review in a post on X. Oates added that rather than Wilson disagreeing with “interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner,” she benefited from Nolan’s film and then attacked it.

Wilson’s review went so viral it crashed the London Review of Books website for a few hours on Monday. On the heels of the missive’s publication, Wilson posted on Bluesky that an earlier draft of the essay was actually more cutting than the version that went live.

“Was I too mean? Or not mean enough? I went through my first draft and tried to take out the snark,” she wrote. “To quote the great poet: ‘Though much is taken, much remains… That which we are, we are.’”

She added in the same thread: “The oddest thing about the response to this essay is people who say it’s ‘personal’. You can disagree about some or all of it! I may well be wrong! But it’s not ‘personal’ to analyze a film or other work of art, even negatively. Criticism is more than ‘Hurray!’ or ‘Hiss!’”

One criticism Wilson admits she regrets in retrospect is her take on Nolan’s race-neutral casting. In the review she wrote that while the casting launched a culture war, it wasn’t actually progressive. She likened the characters portrayed by Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Himesh Patel, Corey Antonio Hawkins and Travis Scott to “versions of the Black best friend, whose only role in the drama is to provide aid to the white protagonist.”

On Bluesky, she wrote, “In this piece, I regret the paragraph about the uses of the POC actors – who are all great, but IMO under-utilized (and why couldn‘t Himesh Patel be Odysseus instead?) I still think the film largely wastes its strong cast, but I framed it badly.”

PORTLAND, Maine — This election year is déjà vu for Sen. Susan Collins — the Maine Republican is running for reelection as Democrats pin their hopes on a new candidate to defeat her. Last time, it was state lawmaker Sara Gideon. This time, it’s combat veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner.

But Collins has proved to be a hard target for Democrats over the years — even for candidates without the baggage of Platner, who has faced criticism for his relationships with women, inflammatory online posts and a previous tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol. Collins is seeking her sixth term with sky-high name recognition, a record-breaking run of consecutive Senate votes and a history of bringing back federal funding for her state for years.

She is also the rare Republican who sometimes can boost her own popularity back home by keeping her distance from President Trump, and she has perfected that delicate dance even as his tightening grip on the party has cost two of her Senate Republican colleagues their reelection.

Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lost their primaries when facing Trump-endorsed opponents. But despite the president’s complaints about Collins, he did not campaign against her. Years of practice have made her adept at staying close — but not too close — to the president when it is politically advantageous, and moving away when showing an independent streak is helpful.

“She’s shown time and time again where her state’s electorate is. She understands what’s too far, she understands where she needs to be,” said political consultant Matt Mackowiak, who worked for Cornyn’s failed reelection campaign. Trump endorsed Cornyn’s opponent, Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton.

The road to Senate control goes through Maine

The Democrats need to flip four seats to take control of the Senate in November and hope that Trump’s falling approval ratings and the war in Iran — as well as its subsequent effect on oil prices and the economy — could buoy their chances. Maine is among the top targets, along with Alaska, Ohio and North Carolina.

Platner wants to make the case that Collins isn’t as independent of Trump as her reputation suggests — repeatedly noting that she allowed his Supreme Court nominations to go through, which in 2022 led to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, a landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion, among other major issues.

“Susan Collins may have started her career decades ago in Washington with good intentions, but she has become just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves,” Platner said at a victory party on Tuesday.

Platner supporters are ready for change, said John Keenan, of Sullivan, Maine.

“I think Maine has grown tired of the same old system,” he said. “And putting youth into the campaign, with new instead of a rubber stamp, is very refreshing.”

Republicans have already launched their campaign in support of Collins. The National Republican Senatorial Committee posted a pro-Collins video on the social media channel X on Tuesday that resembled a 1980s video game. It stated that Collins “has brought more than $1.5 billion back to Maine” and that Platner “spent time as a kid at a $70,000 a year prep school in Connecticut.”

Trump has often criticized Collins — but not lately

Even as she faces Platner in November, Collins may have to stay wary of Trump. The president has spent years singling her out for daring to occasionally defy him on some issues.

However, he’s refrained from doing so more recently — especially as Collins failed to draw a credible challenger and cruised to a Republican primary victory.

The White House declined to comment. Political advisors close to Trump, however, said the president understands how critical it is that Republicans maintain control of Congress after November, which requires accommodating Collins. Trump understands the need to avoid a Republican wipeout like 2018’s “blue wave” midterms that saw Democrats flip the House and derail much of the last two years of his first-term plans.

“Senator Susan Collins represents the people of Maine first and foremost and has proven herself to be a dedicated public servant,” said Republican National Committee spokesperson Kristen Cianci in a statement.

Collins spokesperson Blake Kernen said the senator “has worked with five different Presidents throughout her Senate tenure, and has never agreed with any of them on every issue.”

“When she agrees with an effort, she will support it; when she disagrees, she does not hesitate to speak up for what she believes is the right outcome for Maine and for America,” Kernen said in a statement.

Other Republicans ran into trouble with Trump

That didn’t work out for some Republican senators.

Cornyn was among his party’s top voices, rising through the ranks after joining the Senate in 2002. Paxton trounced him in a runoff race days after Trump endorsed the attorney general.

In office since 2015, Cassidy voted to convict Trump during his impeachment trial after the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021. He lost his primary to Trump-endorsed state Rep. Julia Letlow.

Maine figures to be a more competitive race in November — as evidenced by Trump recently refraining from singling out Collins. That’s despite her voting last week with Democrats to block the nearly $1.8-billion fund the president wanted to create to benefit allies that he claims were unfairly targeted by law enforcement.

“She’s always down in the polls and she survives,” Trump conceded when asked about Collins in an interview with the New York Post last week.

Collins defeated Gideon, the Maine House speaker, by almost 9 points in 2020, the same year that Biden beat Trump by a similar margin in the state.

Mackowiak said that “there’s just no pathway to a MAGA senator from Maine.”

“It does appear that the Trump political operation is soberly analyzing the electoral environment in Maine and really kind of follows her lead as it relates to that state and that race, particularly this cycle,” he said.

Maine Republicans are ‘a bit more pragmatic’

Chuck Ellis, a Republican from Westbrook who runs a digital marketing company, said Collins’ reluctance to move in lockstep with Trump can be a plus.

Although there are some “hard-line” voters who may disapprove, Ellis said, “ultimately a lot of your conservatives, your Republicans, are people who are a bit more pragmatic.”

After Collins opposed the White House’s signature tax cut and spending package last year, and voted against a proposal to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding, the president complained about her on social media.

“Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins,” he wrote.

Then, in January, Trump lashed out at the “stupidity” of Collins and four other Senate Republicans who joined Democrats to start a debate over restricting the president’s use of force in Venezuela.

She later received a profanity-laced call from Trump.

White House may keep a further distance from Collins’ race

As chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins last week cast her 10,000th Senate vote in a row, setting a record.

“She has been able to do and show that ‘I am bringing money and resources from the federal government to Maine to help Maine,’ ” Ellis said.

The president is unlikely to travel to Maine ahead of November despite visiting other states with key Senate races, like Iowa and Michigan. He could even campaign personally for Paxton.

Vice President JD Vance has been to Maine, where he promoted his anti-fraud task force. Collins didn’t attend Vance’s speech in Bangor last month in which he acknowledged the senator’s distance from the Trump administration.

“If she was as partisan as I sometimes wish that she was,” Vance said, “she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine.”

Whittle and Weissert write for the Associated Press. Weissert reported from Washington.