Washington closed the Senate doors for summer with one of those Saturday-night vote piles that looks simple until you read what each number actually did.
Todd Blanche is now attorney general after a 50-49 confirmation. A Russia-and-Iran sanctions package sailed through 86-11, but Rand Paul’s attempt to remove its tariff weapon went nowhere. A voter photo-ID bill drew 52 votes and still stalled because it needed 60 to end debate. Government funding passed 90-6.
Todd Blanche confirmed attorney general in a 50-49 vote
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general Saturday, 50-49, after invoking cloture by the same margin. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined every voting Democrat in opposition. Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy provided the support that made confirmation possible.
The official Senate roll-call index records both votes. Associated Press reporting supplies the political context and the split inside the Republican conference.
Blanche enters the job with a resume nobody can pretend is ordinary. He served as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Supporters argue that he can restore confidence in a Justice Department they believe became politicized. Opponents argue that his closeness to Trump makes genuine independence doubtful.
Neither prediction is proof. The proof starts now.
The useful standard is not whether Blanche makes one side cheer. It is whether charging decisions, investigations and legal positions look principled when they help the president, when they hurt the president and when they involve people the president cannot stand. A republic cannot run on one rulebook for friends and another for enemies.
That makes this confirmation bigger than the 50-49 tally. Blanche has the office. Now he has to show the country whose lawyer he intends to be.
Senate passes Russia and Iran sanctions, 86-11
The Senate also passed H.R. 5334 by a lopsided 86-11 vote. The bipartisan package is aimed at tightening pressure on Russia and adding Iran-related sanctions provisions. A release from the bipartisan Senate group says the legislation targets major countries that keep buying from Russia.
The headline vote hides the sharper liberty argument. Senator Rand Paul offered an amendment to strip the bill’s tariff mechanism. It failed 32-64, according to the Senate’s official vote record.
That split deserves more attention than it will get. A person can want Vladimir Putin’s war machine squeezed and still worry about handing a president broad economic power. Sanctions can be a legitimate tool. Tariffs can also hit American buyers, invite retaliation and grow executive discretion long after the original emergency has faded from the news.
The Senate chose the stronger weapon by a wide margin. H.R. 5334 still needs the remaining constitutional steps before anyone should call it law. If it gets there, Congress should not treat oversight as a ceremonial afterthought.
A 52-46 voter-ID vote still failed
The Senate’s voter photo-ID fight produced the night’s most misleading number. A motion to invoke cloture on S. 5271 received 52 votes in favor and 46 against. That sounds like passage. It was not.
Under the rule governing this vote, supporters needed 60 senators to end debate and move the bill forward. They fell eight short. The measure stalled without a final up-or-down vote on passage.
This is not parliamentary trivia. Procedure decides what the Senate can even vote on. If a headline says senators rejected voter ID 46-52, it erases the actual question in front of them.
The policy argument will keep going. Supporters see photo ID as a basic safeguard that citizens already use in ordinary life. Critics focus on eligible voters who lack qualifying documents and on the details of access, cost and administration. A serious system should pursue both secure elections and a clear path for every eligible citizen to cast a ballot.
Senator Mike Lee has pushed the issue for months. His March 26 X post is embedded below as historical campaign context only. It is not evidence of Saturday’s vote, which comes from the Senate record.
The August 8 result is straightforward: a majority supported cloture, the motion did not reach 60 and the bill did not advance.
Government funding passes 90-6
The Senate approved H.R. 6500 by 90-6, another unusually large margin in the same late-session package. The Associated Press session report places the funding vote alongside the Blanche confirmation, sanctions package and voter-ID failure.
The guardrail here is simple: a Senate vote is not the same thing as final enactment. The measure must complete the remaining constitutional steps before it becomes law. Until that status is verified, the honest verb is “passed,” not “funded forever” and not “signed into law.”
Large bipartisan votes can reduce shutdown risk. They can also make scrutiny harder when members would rather leave town than explain the details. The size of the margin is a reason to read the measure, not a substitute for reading it.
Missouri’s sales tax holiday ends tonight
Missouri families have one final day to use the state’s back-to-school sales tax holiday. It ends at midnight Sunday, August 9.
The Missouri Department of Revenue overview and official FAQ list price limits including $100 per clothing item, $50 per school-supply purchase and $1,500 for personal computers and qualifying peripherals.
Check the category and price rules before checkout. This is a tax exemption on qualifying purchases, not a promise that every back-to-school item is discounted.
For another recent look at executive power and constitutional limits, read 4Liberty Network’s report on the August 7 birthright-citizenship orders.
Going Viral
Time for something that does not require a Senate parliamentarian.
What to watch next
First, watch how Todd Blanche defines independence when the president has a direct political interest in a Justice Department decision. Speeches are cheap. Difficult cases will tell the story.
Second, watch the House and White House path for the sanctions and funding bills. Senate passage is a major step, not the final step.
Third, watch whether voter-ID supporters turn a failed cloture vote into a new negotiating push or simply a campaign message for the fall. The 52 votes prove majority support for ending debate, but the Senate’s 60-vote gate remains.
And if you are shopping in Missouri, watch the clock. Midnight arrives faster than Congress moves.
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