The Senate Judiciary Committee on Aug. 3 advanced the nomination of Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general after he struck a deal with two GOP holdouts.
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) had opposed Blanche because of concerns over a settlement that the Department of Justice negotiated with President Donald Trump in his suit against the IRS.
Blanche said on Aug. 2 that he formally terminated a nearly $1.8 billion fund that would have given payments to victims of government weaponization. Tillis and Cornyn subsequently issued a statement on Aug. 3 pledging their support.
The Senate panel voted 12–10, along party lines, to advance Blanche’s nomination. It now heads to the Senate floor for a final confirmation vote, where he can afford to lose only two Republican votes, assuming all Democrats will be opposed and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be absent.
The advancement is a small victory for the acting attorney general, who’s contended with a series of concerns from GOP senators, including his handling of the Epstein files and whether he’s too aligned with Trump’s interests.
Trump had even threatened to pull Blanche’s nomination last week as Tillis and Cornyn maintained their opposition. The president said he would wait for the two senators to be replaced in January; both lost their bids for reelection to Trump-backed candidates.
Even with this, Blanche may need to satisfy other potential holdouts such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who told reporters on July 30 that she shared Tillis and Cornyn’s concerns.
Cornyn had concerns about the Department of Justice’s decision to settle a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS after his tax returns were leaked. The Justice Department, under Blanche, had agreed to establish a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate victims of government overreach.
That plan wilted under opposition from both sides of the aisle, and Blanche had repeatedly said it was dead.
But Cornyn wanted it in writing.
Over the weekend, Blanche issued an order declaring the fund would not go forward.
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund,” the joint statement from Cornyn and Tillis said. “Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS, and the Treasury.”
Cornyn also said he had concerns about a portion of the settlement that extended broad tax liability immunity to Trump, his family members, and his business associates.
Tillis said previously that he wouldn’t back Blanche unless the nominee met with accusers of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; Blanche had spearheaded the release of files related to that case, and some of the accusers’ names had accidentally been made public.
That meeting between Blanche and the survivors of alleged trafficking took place on July 16.
