Senate Republicans are not giving up on confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general in the coming weeks, despite President Trump’s threat to pull his nomination and resubmit it in the next Congress.
Mr. Trump is frustrated with holdout GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who are preventing Mr. Blanche’s nomination from advancing.
“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,” Mr. Trump said Thursday on Truth Social.
He said Mr. Blanche is a “star” and would remain in charge of the Justice Department as acting attorney general if he were to withdraw the nomination until the next Congress.
Mr. Cornyn said that strategy could backfire.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the November election, and he may have less Republicans to vote on a confirmation next year,” he said.
However, the president’s threat does not appear to be coming to fruition just yet. Mr. Blanche met with Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis on Thursday afternoon, hours after the president’s post.
The two senators have been battling with the Justice Department over the agreement reached to dismiss Mr. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. The settlement called for immunity for past tax malfeasance by the president and his sons, and created a $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund to pay off “victims” of the Biden Justice Department.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, said Mr. Blanche is “well qualified” and he wants to get his nomination approved.
“I’m trying to find a resolution, and why would I consider anything else?” he said.
Mr. Grassley had postponed a planned Thursday committee vote because without Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis’ support, the nomination would not have advanced. Democrats are united in opposition to Mr. Balance and a single GOP defection would result in a deadlocked tie.
“This is not just a problem with just Thom Tillis and me. We just happen to be on the front lines on the Judiciary Committee,” Mr. Cornyn said. “I think there’s a serious question, if this goes unresolved, whether he could ever get confirmed.”
Mr. Trump, however, appears to be viewing it as a personal grudge. He said in the Truth Social post that he ended Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis’ political careers by refusing to endorse them for reelection.
Mr. Cornyn lost his primary to Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Mr. Tillis decided to retire rather than run for reelection.
Both men are still interested in helping Republicans maintain their Senate majority and believe the settlement over the president’s IRS lawsuit is politically toxic.
“This settlement agreement purports to give protection from future IRS audits that no other American would enjoy,” Mr. Cornyn said. “I’ve been told … the way it’s phrased right now could extend to more than 100 different Trump Organization subsidies into the future, and I think that’s a problem.”
Mr. Tillis said he is concerned about Democrats hanging the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund over GOP candidates’ heads if it is not officially nullified.
Mr. Blanche testified that the fund is moribund as far as the Justice Department is concerned.
Mr. Tillis said the fact that the president would be willing to squelch his own nominee over a demand that the death of the fund be memorialized in writing “suggests to me that there’s at least one or two people in the White House who wanted to have this latent capability for future use.”
“Otherwise, it makes no sense, right?” he said. “It’s supposed to be dead. If it’s dead, all we’re talking about is throwing the dirt on the casket.”
The senators fear if the fund remains authorized on paper, the president or another party, such as his sons, could later go to court and ask a judge to enforce it.
Mr. Blanche also testified that the IRS audit immunity deal is limited to the named parties on the lawsuit — Mr. Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization LLC — and their tax returns filed through this year.
The senators wanted that to be memorialized in writing as well.
Initially, Mr. Cornyn wanted a revised settlement agreement but the Justice Department did not want to make direct modifications. He said he is willing to accept Mr. Blanche signing a transcript of his sworn testimony with language affirming that is how the settlement should be legally interpreted.
Both senators still want to get to yes, but said they will not be pressured to drop their demands.
“I’m still working on getting this done, and I’m still optimistic that we will,” Mr. Tillis said.
“I think the Department of Justice would probably benefit from some stability, and I think Todd Blanche is an impressive guy,” Mr. Cornyn said.
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