President Trump on Thursday threatened to temporarily withdraw his attorney general nominee Todd Blanche from Senate consideration, blaming Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina for blocking the confirmation.
“Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote on Blanche’s nomination Thursday morning. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) canceled the vote after Cornyn and Tillis threatened to withhold their votes or skip the meeting entirely.
At the center of the standoff is a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established as part of Trump’s civil settlement with the Department of Justice and IRS. Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Justice Department that the fund is inoperative and will never be activated. The Justice Department sent proposed language to Cornyn late Wednesday. He called it unsatisfactory and submitted his own proposed language Thursday morning. No deal has been reached.
“Basically I get the sense that Todd Blanche is not the problem, it’s other folks at the White House who are resistant to any changes, any additional documentation,” Cornyn told The Hill. “But they need to make a fundamental decision whether they want him confirmed or not.”
Trump suggested he could leave Blanche in his current acting role and resubmit the nomination once Cornyn and Tillis exit the Senate in January. Tillis announced his retirement last year; Cornyn lost his GOP primary to a Trump-endorsed challenger.
