Blanche’s AG nomination in doubt as a critical Republican remains unsatisfied; committee delays vote

Todd Blanche’s chances of becoming the next Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney general were thrown further into doubt Wednesday as two pivotal Republican senators said they are currently “not prepared” to support the nomination with just hours to go before a committee vote.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) have indicated for weeks that their votes would hinge on the willingness of Blanche and the Trump administration to amend a controversial deal struck earlier this year between the Justice Department and lawyers for the president. If they or any other Republican opposes Blanche in committee, it would block Blanche’s confirmation.

Cornyn and Tillis have demanded the Justice Department formally change that agreement to bar the department from creating a nearly $1.8 billion fund the deal had originally proposed to compensate those who claimed they were victims of political prosecutions. Blanche has said publicly the department is dropping the fund, but Cornyn wants a more binding commitment in writing.

The senators have also said he wants the administration to limit, in writing, the scope of a Justice Department agreement not to pursue President Donald Trump or his family over past tax claims, for example by clarifying that it does not apply to the family’s future actions.

But after days of negotiations over those requests, Cornyn indicated this week that he had still not seen anything that came close to satisfying his concerns.

He and Blanche were scheduled to meet to discuss the issue Wednesday morning. But Cornyn abruptly canceled the meeting, telling reporters he still hasn’t seen “a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I’ve requested.”

“They know what they need to do but they simply refuse to do it,” the senator said.

A Justice Department official said Blanche sent a proposal to the senator’s staff Tuesday hoping to address his concerns. That official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive political matter.

That canceled meeting set off a day of frenzied activity on Capitol Hill less than 24 hours before a planned Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Blanche’s nomination, scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said Wednesday afternoon he hoped Cornyn and Tillis could reach an agreement with the Justice Department.

“I would encourage them to sit down — which I think they are — and try and come to a resolution there so that the markup can continue tomorrow, and we get Todd Blanche ready for the floor,” Thune said.

The agreement between Trump and the Justice Department that has put the committee vote in doubt emerged from a lawsuit the president filed against the IRS earlier this year over the leak of his tax returns to the media. Under the deal, which was not approved by a court, Trump dropped the suit in exchange for the creation of the payout fund and protection from tax audits from prior years.

The agreement immediately drew furious backlash from both parties, prompting Blanche to say plans for the fund were no longer operative - even while Trump has declined to disavow it. And Blanche, despite his retreat on the fund, has said the Justice Department still intends to honor the tax protections the deal extended to the president, his family and associated businesses.

Cornyn’s refusal to budge on the changes he has demanded to the deal marks his most forceful public break with the Trump administration since he lost a primary reelection bid this spring after the president endorsed his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Tillis, another committee member who is leaving the Senate after this year, has also shown an increasing willingness to tangle with Trump.

For his part, Blanche has repeatedly said he does not see a reason to formally amend the deal in writing.

While he maintains he did not play a direct role in negotiating the agreement, Blanche emerged earlier this year as its chief defender in the administration and has resisted calls from lawmakers, and from a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging the fund, to put in writing his commitment that plans for the fund are dead.

Cornyn pressed his demands at Blanche’s confirmation hearing this month, saying he needed more than just the nominee’s words.

“Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who’s a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the ‘anti-weaponization fund’ and there’s no guarantee that he won’t raise it in the future?” Cornyn said.

Blanche responded that Trump has no power over the fund, which would have to be initiated by the Justice Department.

“It is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund,” Blanche reiterated Wednesday. “The weaponization fund is dead. It’s not moving forward.”

Cornyn told reporters Wednesday that committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has said he needs to decide by 4. p.m. Wednesday whether to call off Thursday’s planned vote. That means it’s up to the Trump administration to provide him the information by that time, Cornyn said.

“Hopefully, they now recognize the seriousness of this,” Cornyn said.

As Cornyn’s 4 p.m. deadline came and went, Grassley met with Cornyn and Tillis to discuss next steps. All three emerged from their closed-door session with no clear resolution.

“We’ve heard from them,” Cornyn said of the Justice Department, speaking to reporters afterward. “It’s just they’ve refused to commit to writing what he testified to under oath. It’s not a big ask.”

Tillis, speaking separately to reporters late Wednesday, said that a call on whether to proceed with the vote could come as late as Thursday morning.

If the vote is canceled or postponed, Blanche could continue to serve as attorney general in an acting capacity. And even if his nomination were to fail, he could remain in that position potentially through the end of Trump’s term under the law Trump used to appoint him the Justice Department’s temporary leader.

But as his nominee’s fate hung in the balance Wednesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he had not heard of any issues with Blanche’s nomination, and suggested Cornyn’s opposition stemmed from the president’s decision to endorse Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary.

“All I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding,” the president said, “and I thought [his nomination] was pretty routine because he’s so good.”