(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday floated the possibility of temporarily withdrawing Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general as his confirmation is being held up by two outgoing Republican senators.
“Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. 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, who will remain, in any event, as Acting,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“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,” Trump wrote.
Both senators’ terms will end in January. Cornyn lost a primary battle in Texas earlier this year after Trump endorsed his opponent, Ken Paxton. Tillis announced last year he would not seek reelection after Trump threatened to field primary challengers.
Cornyn, in response to Trump’s social media post, suggested that, in addition to him and Tillis, there are more lawmakers with “concerns” regarding Blanche.
“POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis,” Cornyn wrote on X.
Cornyn is demanding the Department of Justice put in writing that the nearly $1.8 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is officially dead, and that the scope of Trump’s immunity deal with the IRS be narrowed.
As part of Trump’s settlement with the IRS in his $10 billion lawsuit against the agency, the DOJ issued an addendum, signed by Blanche in his role as acting attorney general, that would bar the government from continuing any existing audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family and their companies.
“I know that Todd Blanche understands it, but I think he’s probably getting some pushback from the White House, and that’s making things more complicated than there needs to be,” Cornyn told ABC News on Thursday morning.
Cornyn said he wanted the DOJ to rewrite the IRS settlement agreement itself and said they were “reluctant” to do so. Cornyn then said he offered them an alternative.
“So we provided some additional paper…which, if he would put that in writing, would satisfy my concerns because he said the weaponization fund is dead. He said the audit protections don’t extend beyond the parties in the lawsuit, and it doesn’t cover any federal entities,” the senator said.
When asked by a reporter if the DOJ committed to doing that, Cornyn said “no.”
“I don’t know whether they think they can wait us out or we’ll cave, but I assure you, we won’t,” Cornyn said.
Tillis said the administration could “roll the dice” and wait out his and Cornyn’s Senate terms, but said Trump is getting bad advice on how to proceed with Blanche’s nomination.
“Hey, 158 days they can try it again, roll the dice on what the Senate confirmation process looks like next year. It’s all on him. It’s certainly within his authority to do that,” Tillis said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed its scheduled Thursday vote on Blanche’s nomination for attorney general amid the resistance from Cornyn and Tillis.
Sources told ABC News that DOJ sent an updated proposal to the two senators last night to try and quell their concerns.
But when we asked on Thursday morning whether Wednesday night’s proposal moved him any closer to voting for Blanche, Cornyn responded, “We are no closer than we were before.”
Withdrawing Blanche’s nomination is a decision that would have no consequence in terms of Blanche leading the DOJ. Blanche can continue to serve as acting attorney general.
Acting department officials can serve in the role for 210 days, according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — however, that resets if a nomination is withdrawn.
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