Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s path to confirmation hit a major setback Wednesday, coming less than a day before a crucial Senate vote was expected to take place.
The delay marks the latest turn in a difficult confirmation fight for Blanche, who was selected to succeed former Attorney General Pam Bondi. At the center of the dispute are Blanche, the Department of Justice and two influential Republican senators whose votes are essential in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., want the DOJ to submit clear written proposals outlining changes to the settlement agreement reached earlier this year between the IRS and President Donald Trump and his family.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had been pressing for a compromise that would keep Blanche’s nomination on track, with hopes of setting up a full Senate confirmation vote next week.
“I think that that’s an issue between, right now, the White House and Senators Cornyn and Tillis,” Thune said. “But, yeah, I would encourage them to sit down, which I think they are, and try to come to a resolution there so that the markup can continue tomorrow, and we can get Todd Blanche ready for the floor.”
The Justice Department faced a 4 p.m. Wednesday deadline to deliver what the senators were seeking. When the agency failed to satisfy their demands, Blanche’s already uncertain confirmation effort came to an abrupt halt.
With no assurance that Cornyn or Tillis would support Blanche, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, postponed the hearing to a later date.
The senators’ concerns focus on two issues: the now-defunct anti-weaponization fund, valued at nearly $2 billion, and audit immunity for the president. Both Republicans and Democrats had criticized the fund, especially amid fears that money could benefit individuals connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump’s audit immunity has similarly ruffled feathers. Blanche, in his announcement of the settlement deal earlier this year, outlined that, as part of the agreement, the IRS would not be allowed to audit Trump, his family or affiliated companies.
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Cornyn has proven the most resistant until his demands are met. He’s used his newfound freedom to extract concessions from the Trump administration in recent weeks.
His push for an explicit end to the audit language in the settlement agreement is another such example. The longtime lawmaker, who will exit the Senate at the end of this year after being ousted by the Trump-backed Ken Paxton, was set to meet Blanche Wednesday morning.
But the confab was called off, and Blanche continued making the rounds in the Senate throughout the day, capping off his visit to the Capitol with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo. He declined to comment to reporters on his way out.
Cornyn said it was “made clear from the outset that we expected some written proposals to modify the release that was signed in the tax dispute with President Trump and his organization.”
“We need to conform the actual document to what Todd Blanche testified under oath as the president’s acting attorney general,” Cornyn said. “We’ve had two meetings scheduled that have now been canceled because they have not been responsive in providing those written documents.”
Trump, when asked about the holdup in the Senate for Blanche, portrayed himself as a president at an arm’s length from the situation and said he heard his attorney general pick was “going through quite nicely.”
“Well, all I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding. And I thought he’s — I thought it was pretty routine because he’s so good,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “You just wouldn’t find a better person. So, I don’t know, maybe John Cornyn is upset with me because I didn’t endorse him. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem.”
Tillis made clear he doesn’t “have a beef with DOJ or with Blanche.”
“They’re trying to get it done, but still gotta get it done,” Tillis said.
He also noted that the number of hurdles that getting those kinds of written proposals through was more extensive than meets the eye. For example, Tillis said the actual settlement likely was signed by the president’s lawyer and not Trump himself.
“So there’s, you know, there’s a circle of people that have to go through the loop,” he said. “And I get that, but, you know, if we can get it done or possibly get him reported out on Tuesday, if they schedule a markup, I would support that if we get the language.”
