A New Attorney General, Profiting Off Immigration Detention, Hollywood Merger

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:02)
Confirmations are flying in the Senate before an August recess. New heads for TSA and FEMA, dozens of ambassadors and government jobs.

**Scott Simon** (0:11)
And Todd Blanche gets just enough votes to become Attorney General.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:15)
I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

**Scott Simon** (0:16)
And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News. A couple of Republicans declined to vote for Todd Blanche, saying that the Justice Department has become too politicized under President Trump.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:28)
Working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been great business for private prison companies. They've made record profits this year.

**Scott Simon** (0:36)
And while a merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers has rattled people in Hollywood, a couple of movie theater chains, Regal Cinemas and AMC say they wanted to go through. The merger is still stuck in an antitrust lawsuit.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:49)
Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

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**Ayesha Rascoe** (2:01)
Early into the morning, the US. Senate, under pressure from President Trump, voting and debating which of the president's priorities need to be addressed right now.

**Scott Simon** (2:11)
Early today, the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee for US. Attorney General, Todd Blanche, squeaked out of victory. NPR congressional correspondent, Claudia Grisales, joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.

**Claudia Grisales** (2:24)
Good morning, Scott.

**Scott Simon** (2:25)
This confirmation consumed the Senate for weeks. Why?

**Claudia Grisales** (2:28)
Right. A week ago, it wasn't even really clear he had the votes to win confirmation. Much of the concerns came down to a conflict of interest. That's Blanche's role in installing Trump's demands. And that includes a controversial settlement this year under his administration that was between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service that created a $1.8 billion fund that was on track to benefit Trump's allies. Now, Blanche issued a written order rescinding that plan. But still, that and more was part of the reasoning. That Blanche lost key support from two Republicans, that's Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. They expressed concerns about the future of the agency with little restraint to Trump's demands.
And with the Senate operating under tight margins, all eyes were then on a final swing vote, that's Bill Cassidy from Louisiana. He ultimately said he would vote for Blanche, helping him get over the finish line by that one vote.

**Scott Simon** (3:20)
And what one Senator Cassidy's support?

**Claudia Grisales** (3:24)
Well, he admitted he too had concerns over Blanche's role in things like that anti-weaponization fund. Here's Cassidy on the Senate floor.

**Bill Cassidy** (3:32)
Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump.

**Claudia Grisales** (3:42)
So he argued Blanche would actually have more leverage to push against the president if he was confirmed to the role.

**Scott Simon** (3:49)
Senate's now in an extended August recess, but had a long to-do list to get there. Before wrapping up their session early this morning, what else did they do?

**Claudia Grisales** (3:57)
Well, one big thing, they approved a Russia sanctions bill with broad bipartisan support in a vote of 87 to 11 That's not a common occurrence in Congress these days.
It was at least a year in the making. It was named for the late GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who was really the architect on this legislation, all the way up until his death last month. The bill is designed to really squeeze the Russian economy. One way it does that is by letting President Trump put tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and natural gas. The bill's supporter saw it as a tribute to Graham, and his death added momentum to get it done. His sister Darlene Graham spoke right before the vote. She was appointed to serve the remainder of his term.