Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would oppose Todd Blanche’s nomination as US attorney general, becoming the second known Republican to do so after Susan Collins. Her decision narrowed the margin available to President Trump’s nominee and raised fresh uncertainty over whether the Senate could confirm the acting attorney general before its August recess.

Murkowski said the country needed an attorney general able to restrain the administration’s “worst impulses”, adding that she lacked confidence Blanche would do so. All Democrats were expected to oppose him, while the nomination had already faced criticism over a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for Trump allies and provisions linked to Trump’s dispute with the Internal Revenue Service; Senate Majority Leader John Thune had not yet scheduled a final vote.