President Donald Trump said on July 30 that he is willing to temporarily withdraw his nomination of Todd Blanche to be attorney general until next year, if two Republican senators continue to withhold their support.
Blanche’s nomination has been held up in the Senate Judiciary Committee after Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said they might not support bringing it to the floor for a full vote. Their two votes are necessary for the nomination to advance.
Both Tillis and Cornyn lost their bid for reelection earlier this year after Trump endorsed their opponents during the primaries. He now intends to wait them out, Trump said.
“I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office,” he said in a Truth Social post.
In the meantime, Blanche will remain the acting head of the Department of Justice (DOJ), he said.
The agreement gave Trump, his family members, and his business associates full immunity from any past tax liability. It also established a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund designed to give payouts to victims of government overreach.
The proposed fund was withdrawn after it proved unpopular with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Blanche was once Trump’s personal attorney, and some lawmakers have alleged a conflict of interest. He has repeatedly said that the fund is dead and that the tax immunity shields the president and his associates only from past tax liability.
But Cornyn was not convinced and said he has never agreed to support Blanche’s nomination, even though he had a “positive interview” with him.
“Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” Cornyn wrote in a July 28 X post, referring to the Justice Department.
He told reporters on July 30 that Trump’s gambit may not pay off, because there’s no guarantee which figures will replace Tillis and him.
“He may have a weaker hand next year than he does now, and it’s unfortunate because we tried not to escalate this fight, because I think Todd Blanche is about as good a nominee as you’re going to get from this administration,” Cornyn said.
Tillis previously indicated he would withhold his vote until Blanche agreed to meet in person with victims of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Blanche had spearheaded the public release of files related to that case but faced criticism after some of the victims’ names were accidentally released.
“I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis said during Blanche’s confirmation hearing on July 16.
A planned vote for the former U.S. attorney was delayed for the second time this month on July 30; it had been scheduled for July 23 but was unable to proceed at that time for procedural reasons.
At that time, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) touted Blanche’s achievements during his tenure at the DOJ. The U.S. murder rate is at a 100-year low, and prosecution of fraud and child predators is on the rise, he said.
Grassley also said the Democrat members of the committee were seeking to “defame” Blanche during the hearing, while ignoring the “weaponization” of the federal government during President Joe Biden’s administration.
“If the people who engaged in the worst partisan warfare this country has ever seen have a problem with Todd Blanche, the American people should take notice because it means Mr. Blanche is doing something right,” Grassley said.
But, he said, he didn’t agree with everything the DOJ has done under Blanche’s leadership, although he didn’t go into details.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate minority whip, disputed the accusation that his party ignored the activities of Biden’s DOJ, pointing out that he held regular oversight hearings when he chaired the Judiciary Committee.
“The hearings covered the Justice Department, the FBI, and other DOJ components, and I frequently criticized the Justice Department and compelled Department of Justice officials, my own party, to voucher for their actions,” Durbin said.
He also criticized Blanche for the IRS settlement, which Democrats have called a “slush fund” to benefit Trump’s political allies, potentially including protesters from the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.
