Trump Ramps Up Pressure On Blanche Confirmation As Cornyn Fires Back

Associated Press

President Donald Trump suggested he would withdraw Todd Blanche’s name for attorney general if Republicans vowed to vote for him after Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) are out of office.

“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,” Trump posted Thursday to Truth Social.

“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. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention.”

Trump added, “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.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee had planned to vote Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination, but the vote was pushed back after Cornyn and Tillis refused to support the nominee.

Cornyn has insisted the Justice Department clarify how it would proceed on Trump’s controversial IRS settlement, with the senator pushing for any agreement to kill a planned $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for Trump’s supporters.

The Texas senator quickly fired back at the president.

“POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis,” he wrote in his own X post. 

Trump’s post comes as Cornyn and Tillis  both indicated they’ll vote “no” on confirming Trump’s former personal lawyer and current acting Attorney General as the full-time AG.

Trump named Blanche acting attorney general after Pam Bondi stepped down over the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein files.

Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down an agreement that granted the Trump family immunity from tax audits and would have created the massive “anti-weaponization” fund for his supporters, in exchange for the president dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

Both senators are demanding written guarantees from the DOJ that the proposed fund is permanently declared dead.

If Cornyn and Tillis indicate they’ll vote in favor of Blanche, the Senate Judiciary Committee would need to set a new date to vote on sending the nomination to the floor for a full vote.

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