Susan Collins Throws Wrench into Todd Blanche Confirmation
The Morning Sixpack - 08/05/2026: Blanche wobbles, Chipotle salmonella, Max Miller probe, Fauci file fallout, Eaton Fire cause, SpaceX moon crash. #MorningSixpack
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Susan Collins just made Todd Blanche’s path to becoming attorney general a lot narrower—and now two more Republican senators could decide the outcome.
Collins Breaks With GOP on Blanche, Putting Attorney General Bid at Risk
Susan Collins says Todd Blanche helped erode the Justice Department’s independence—and her vote could be enough to turn his confirmation into a nail-biter.
With Republicans holding only a slim Senate margin, Blanche can now afford almost no additional defections.
Collins announced she will oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, saying that while Blanche is “a capable lawyer,” his actions have further politicized the Justice Department. The Maine Republican pointed to his role in the Trump-IRS settlement that included an audit shield for the president and his family, the now-scrapped “anti-weaponization fund,” and his pledge to an anti-abortion group to pursue a nationwide ban on mailing abortion medication.
Her opposition comes at a critical moment. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, but Sen. Mitch McConnell’s continued medical absence leaves Blanche with almost no margin for error. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have not announced how they’ll vote. If both join Collins, Blanche’s nomination is likely finished.
Blanche advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 12-10 party-line vote after assuring Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis that the controversial “anti-weaponization fund” had been permanently ended. Democrats remain unconvinced.
“This document is a sham,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said of materials Blanche released. “It is a sham and a fraud on the Congress.”
Source: CNBC
Editor: Collins has built a career on being willing to cross party lines. Whether Murkowski and Cassidy decide this is another one of those moments will determine if Blanche gets a promotion—or an unexpected exit.
Let’s not forget that Blanche is the key DOJ official standing between Trump and the Epstein Files. We know who he’s protecting.
A bad batch of jalapeños appears to be the common thread—not just Chipotle—and that’s the kind of supply-chain headache that spreads fast.
Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Jalapeños Sickens More Than 100 Chipotle Customers
Health investigators say contaminated jalapeños—not the restaurants themselves—appear to be behind a salmonella outbreak that has already sickened at least 110 people in Minnesota.
Chipotle says it quickly pulled the suspected peppers from affected restaurants, but officials warn the contaminated product may still be circulating elsewhere.
Minnesota health officials have linked at least 110 salmonella cases to jalapeños served at Chipotle and other restaurants after interviews found that 90 percent of patients had eaten the peppers before becoming ill. Investigators believe the outbreak likely extends well beyond the confirmed cases because many infections are never officially diagnosed.
The FDA opened an investigation on July 22 while Chipotle began tracing its supply chain. According to the company, the suspected jalapeños came from a common lot shared by multiple food-service operators, prompting the chain to remove the product and replace it with peppers from different growers.
“Chipotle has fully collaborated on every aspect of this investigation; ranging from providing records and information about the foods they receive at their restaurants, as well as implementing mitigation steps right away to prevent further transmission,” Minnesota epidemiologist Carlota Medus said.
Officials say they are no longer worried about continued exposure at Chipotle locations because the peppers have been removed, but they caution that other restaurants may still have received the same contaminated shipment. Salmonella typically causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps, though severe infections can lead to hospitalization or even life-threatening complications, particularly for young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.
The outbreak also revives memories of Chipotle’s long history of food safety problems, including E. coli, norovirus, and other foodborne illness outbreaks that resulted in more than 1,100 illnesses and a $25 million criminal settlement in 2020. This time, however, investigators say the focus is on a contaminated ingredient in the broader supply chain rather than food handling inside the restaurants.
Source: Daily Mail
Editor: Chipotle moved quickly once the alarms went off. Now the bigger question is how many other restaurants were serving peppers from the same shipment before anyone realized something was wrong.
Max Miller wanted an ethics investigation to clear his name—now he’s getting one, with the spotlight turned all the way up.
House Ethics Panel Opens Investigation Into Rep. Max Miller
The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. Max Miller over allegations of domestic abuse and illegal drug use after the Ohio Republican asked for a review himself.
The investigation comes as Miller fights for reelection and battles explosive allegations from his ex-wife in a highly public custody dispute.
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee announced it is reviewing whether Miller violated congressional standards through alleged domestic violence, abuse, or illegal drug use. The panel stressed that opening an investigation does not mean any wrongdoing has been found.
Hours before the announcement, Miller said he planned to request the investigation himself, insisting he had “absolutely nothing to hide” and wanted to clear his name. He has repeatedly denied all allegations made by his former wife, Emily Moreno, during their ongoing custody battle.
According to court filings, Moreno accused Miller of throwing hot water on her, pushing her into a wall, holding a gun to her head, and fracturing their young daughter’s collarbone. Miller rejected the accusations, saying he has never abused either his ex-wife or daughter and describing the hot water incident as “horseplay” involving a kitchen sink sprayer.
The allegations have drawn criticism from Sen. Bernie Moreno, Emily Moreno’s father, who publicly said Miller “needs serious psychological help” and questioned whether he is fit to hold public office. Despite mounting political pressure, Miller says he will remain in the race for a third House term as Republicans work to protect their razor-thin majority in Congress.
Source: NPR
Editor: Ethics investigations don’t hand out guilty verdicts—they gather facts. But in politics, headlines often arrive long before conclusions, and that’s a problem every candidate would rather avoid.
You can argue about Anthony Fauci all day long, but publishing private medical records of unrelated people is a different fight entirely.
Rand Paul’s Fauci Document Dump Exposed Private Medical Histories
A document release by Sen. Rand Paul’s office exposed the names and medical histories of more than 20 people after Anthony Fauci’s diaries were posted without full redactions.
Some of those identified reportedly had no idea their private health information had been made public until after the files were posted online.
According to a NOTUS review, more than 1,600 pages of Fauci’s personal diaries released by Paul’s office included the names, diagnoses, and medical details of more than 20 individuals, ranging from cancer and HIV patients to Ebola cases. Some entries were even marked “confidential” by Fauci himself.
The documents were obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services through an oversight request and published ahead of Fauci’s Senate testimony. After questions were raised, the original files were removed and replaced with versions containing some—but not all—of the sensitive information redacted.
“What this administration does with information is selective, it is unconstitutional and truly disappointing,” Leslie Adelman, one of the people whose medical information was disclosed, told NOTUS.
The report says the records included both public figures and private citizens, including children. HHS said it provided the documents to Paul’s office but was “not involved in their subsequent publication.” Paul’s office did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
Privacy experts told NOTUS the release raises significant legal and constitutional questions, particularly because the records were voluntarily turned over rather than produced under subpoena. Others noted that successfully pursuing legal claims could still prove difficult despite the apparent disclosure of sensitive personal information.
Source: NOTUS
Editor: Government transparency is one thing. Dumping the medical histories of people who weren’t under investigation is something else entirely. Redactions exist for a reason. The GOP should know this (and they DO, undoubtedly) since they have heavily redacted the Epstein Files for years.
As the West battles another brutal fire season, investigators keep finding the same uncomfortable truth: One spark can change everything.
Eaton Fire Blamed on Power Line as Wildfire Crisis Grips the West
Investigators say Southern California’s deadly Eaton Fire was sparked by electrical equipment—a reminder that even as lightning and arson make headlines, aging infrastructure remains a major wildfire threat.
The findings arrive as dozens of major fires continue burning across the West, stretching firefighters and emergency resources across multiple states.
An 18-month investigation by the Los Angeles County Fire Department concluded that the Eaton Fire was caused by electrical arcing from an out-of-service Southern California Edison transmission tower. Investigators said burning material fell into dry vegetation below the tower, igniting the blaze just seconds later and unleashing a wildfire that killed 19 people, destroyed roughly 9,400 structures, and scorched more than 14,000 acres.
“The fuel bed ignited approximately 12 seconds after the burning material was seen falling from the arcing event,” investigators wrote in their final report.
The Eaton Fire erupted in January 2025 and burned for 24 days before firefighters contained it. Southern California Edison has already launched a compensation program and says it has paid more than $314 million to survivors.
The report lands during one of the nation’s most demanding wildfire seasons. The National Interagency Fire Center has maintained its highest preparedness level as firefighters battle dozens of large fires, particularly across Washington, Oregon, California, and the broader Northwest, where resources have been stretched by extreme heat, drought, and dangerous winds.
While some of this summer’s fires are under criminal investigation and others have been fueled by lightning, the Eaton Fire underscores another persistent danger: electrical infrastructure. California has learned this lesson repeatedly over the past decade, and the latest findings reinforce that wildfire prevention isn’t just about weather—it’s also about maintaining power equipment before a spark lands in the wrong place.
Source: UPI
Editor: Every major wildfire has its own origin story, but too many end the same way: Lives lost, neighborhoods erased, and billions spent rebuilding. The West can’t control the weather, but it can control how aggressively it manages the risks that keep turning sparks into catastrophes. Utility companies are highly regulated, but it seems nobody has an appetite to compel them to improve their infrastructure.
Space junk isn’t just an Earth problem anymore—the moon is starting to collect humanity’s leftovers, too.
SpaceX Rocket Crash Into Moon Highlights Growing Space Junk Problem
A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage is expected to slam into the moon, giving scientists a rare chance to study the impact while raising new concerns about protecting future lunar bases.
As the new space race accelerates, researchers say today’s isolated crash could become tomorrow’s routine hazard.
The four-ton Falcon 9 upper stage has been drifting through space for more than a year after delivering two lunar landers before running out of fuel. Now it’s expected to strike the moon at roughly 5,400 mph, carving out a crater nearly 90 feet across and throwing a cloud of debris high enough to be spotted through telescopes from Earth.
Scientists say the collision is more than a spectacle. It offers a real-world test of what future astronauts and lunar infrastructure could face as more spacecraft head to the moon. Researchers hope to measure the flash, seismic effects, and debris field to better understand how similar impacts could threaten habitats, equipment, and orbiting spacecraft.
“These sorts of things are going to happen more and more often,” researcher Benjamin Fernando said. “As we have more astronauts on the lunar surface, more lunar infrastructure habitats, for example, we need to understand how much of a risk these impact events actually pose.”
The timing is significant. The United States, China, and other nations are all pursuing long-term lunar exploration, with NASA’s Artemis program aiming to establish a sustained human presence on the moon over the next decade. Every mission leaves behind hardware, and unless disposal plans improve, the amount of debris around the moon will only increase.
This won’t be the first accidental lunar crash, but experts say it won’t be the last either. What was once a curiosity is becoming another challenge of the modern space race—and one engineers will have to solve before permanent moon bases become reality.
Source: WIRED
Editor: We spent decades worrying about space junk in Earth orbit. Now we’re exporting the problem 238,000 miles away. If humanity is serious about living on the moon, cleaning up after ourselves has to be part of the mission. But we haven’t learned a damned thing and will NEVER clean up after ourselves.