President Donald Trump is threatening to pull Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general rather than accept demands from two Republican senators over a controversial Justice Department settlement, a move that would leave Blanche running the department as acting attorney general instead of confirmed to the job.
The standoff escalated after Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina blocked the Senate Judiciary Committee from advancing Blanche’s nomination. Trump said he would temporarily withdraw the nomination and send it back to the Senate after both senators leave office next year.
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Cornyn and Tillis want changes in writing
Cornyn and Tillis have said they want changes to the proposed Justice Department settlement put in writing before they’ll support Blanche’s nomination. Those changes include confirming that a proposed $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund has been eliminated and narrowing language related to tax protections.
Both senators said Blanche had worked to resolve the dispute but did not have the authority to finalize the agreement.
“The president’s getting bad advice,” Tillis told reporters Thursday. “He should listen to Blanche and others who think if it’s dead, it should be rendered completely dead.”
Cornyn said the administration’s refusal to put those commitments in writing had become the central obstacle.
“The fact that they’re balking at putting that in writing tells me that they were hoping to get by with this settlement agreement and his testimony and then revitalize those provisions at a later date,” Cornyn said.
Trump argued on Truth Social that only Cornyn and Tillis opposed the nomination. Cornyn fired back on X, writing that the president “is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”
Trump stands by Blanche
In that same lengthy Truth Social post, Trump called Blanche “a STAR” while criticizing both senators and making clear he would rather leave Blanche in an acting role than accept their demands.
He said he had “no objection” to withdrawing the nomination now and sending it back to the Senate after Cornyn and Tillis leave office.
“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, who will remain, in any event, as Acting,” he wrote.
Blanche would continue leading the Justice Department
Even if Trump withdraws the nomination, Blanche would remain at the helm of the Justice Department.
Blanche was confirmed as deputy attorney general last year and became acting attorney general after Trump fired Pam Bondi in April. Federal law places the deputy attorney general first in the department’s line of succession, allowing Blanche to continue serving while the attorney general’s office remains vacant.
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