Senate Committee Advances Todd Blanche Nomination for Attorney General After GOP Holdouts Back Down

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general after Republicans overcame an internal dispute that had briefly threatened to derail President Donald Trump’s pick.

Earlier Tuesday, the panel advanced Blanche’s nomination on a 12-10 party-line vote.

Blanche’s nomination had stalled after Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) withheld support over concerns surrounding an “anti-weaponization” fund proposed by the Trump administration. The program, unveiled in May, would have provided taxpayer-funded payments to some of the January 6th defendants whom Trump pardoned after returning to office.

The impasse prompted fireworks over the weekend between Trump and Tillis, who lashed out at each other via social media.

Trump insisted in a Truth Social post Saturday he would get the fund “PASSED,” slamming both senators, while Tillis punched back on X, calling the fund a “payout pot for punks.”

The conflict ended after Blanche said he had reached an agreement Sunday to amend the settlement underpinning the fund. Cornyn and Tillis later indicated the changes addressed their concerns, clearing the way for Republican support and ultimately for Blanche’s advancement to confirmation vote.

Democrats used the process to argue Blanche would place personal loyalty to Trump ahead of the Justice Department’s longstanding tradition of political independence, questioning whether he would hold to his rescinding of the fund.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the committee’s top Democrat, argued Blanche “continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer,” while Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) dismissed directives Blanche issued Sunday as “decorative,” saying they contained “enough weasel room” to “drive a truck through.”

Meanwhile Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said before the vote that Cornyn and Tillis’ concerns over the fund and the IRS settlement were “shared by many, including this senator” but added the changes negotiated by Blanche had “put this issue to bed once and for all.”

Tuesday’s vote paves the way for confirmation by the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-seat majority.

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