Key GOP Senators Give Blanche’s Attorney General Nomination a Frosty Reception

A number of key Republican senators are not thrilled about the nomination of the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, to fill the role in a permanent capacity. One went so far as to float the idea of holding up the nomination if the administration does not adhere to certain policy demands. Mr. Blanche has served as the head of the DOJ since the resignation of Attorney General Pam Bondi two months ago. Before being tapped as the deputy attorney general, Mr. Blanche was President Trump’s personal defense attorney. Speaking to a group in the Rose Garden on Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump made the announcement that he would nominate Mr. Blanche “He’s acting attorney general, and tomorrow I’m … everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process — which is going to go, I think, very quickly — that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, according to a video posted on X by his deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino. Some Republican senators, however, aren’t willing to give Mr. Blanche the smoothest runway to confirmation. The key senator in this process will be Senator Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who has long said he will not vote to confirm anyone to any DOJ post if they do not vociferously condemn the events of January 6, 2021. “I haven’t made a decision yet,” Mr. Tillis told reporters on Thursday morning. If he votes against the nomination in the Judiciary Committee, then the nomination will not move to the floor. He also raised concerns about the “anti-weaponization fund,” which some Republican senators are currently trying to kill with legislation. Mr. Tillis says the fund needs to be fully dead before he can vote to confirm Mr. Blanche. Mr. Trump said Wednesday night that he loved the idea of the fund, and was unaware of Mr. Blanche’s comments that it had been put to rest. Another lawmaker, Senator John Curtis, does not sit on the Judiciary Committee, though he has a potential solution to ending the anti-weaponization fund — holding up Mr. Blanche’s nomination as a point of leverage. “We have now the nomination of Todd Blanche that we can hold up if we feel like he’s not keeping up with his promise,” Mr. Curtis told reporters when asked what kind of tools the Senate can use to pressure the administration. Another member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator John Cornyn told Punchbowl News that he was not yet on board with the Blanche nomination. “The problem with the office of Attorney General is that there’s basically, well, you are a member of the president’s cabinet. But you’re also the chief law enforcement officer for the country. And you’re not the president’s lawyer,” Mr. Cornyn said. “So I’ll be asking some questions about getting commitments on that.”The majority leader, Senator John Thune, admitted that Mr. Blanche will have some tough questions to answer about his tenure before he can win confirmation. “Most of our members are pretty deferential to who the president wants in some of these key positions,” Mr. Thune told reporters. “This is an environment where nothing’s a safe or sure bet these days.”

Key GOP Senators Give Blanche’s Attorney General Nomination a Frosty Reception

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