Trump doubled down on choosing his former personal lawyer as the nation’s top lawman, calling him “a STAR” and saying he will keep him in the role as acting attorney general until Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina leave office.
“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 posted on his social media site.
Cornyn and Tillis, who both leave office next year, have said they won't back Blanche's nomination without additional assurances in writing about the controversial settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns.
In a social media post responding to Trump’s suggestion that he may pull Blanche’s nomination, Cornyn wrote that the president is “mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”
“I don’t know whether they think they can wait us out or we’ll cave, but I assure you we won’t,” Cornyn told reporters Thursday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee was forced to scrap a planned vote for Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination after the Justice Department and the Republican senators failed to reach a resolution despite hours of negotiations. With all Democratic senators opposed, just one Republican holdout on the committee could sink Blanche’s chances for confirmation.
The settlement included the creation of a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" meant to pay Trump allies who believe they were wronged by the Biden Justice Department that was scrapped after bipartisan opposition. Officials have said that another piece of the settlement — granting Trump and members of his family immunity from tax audits — remains in place.
Through Blanche has repeatedly insisted that the “Anti-Weaponization fund” is dead, skeptical lawmakers have pushed for a commitment in writing.
