‘No Deal’ Yet on Blanche Confirmation, Cornyn Says

Senator John Cornyn says there is no deal yet on the confirmation of deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to lead the Justice Department full-time. Both Mr. Cornyn and Senator Thom Tillis are refusing to back Mr. Blanche until he forever shuts the door on the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” which was scrapped earlier this year. Mr. Blanche’s nomination is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Republicans currently hold a two-seat majority on the panel, meaning Mr. Blanche can afford to lose only one Republican senator in the committee vote in order to advance to the floor. For now, Messrs. Cornyn and Tillis are not committing to supporting him. They say Mr. Blanche must guarantee that a legally binding agreement is signed between President Trump and the Justice Department to ensure that an “anti-weaponization fund” is dead. The fund, which Mr. Blanche says he does not plan to establish in the future, could have been used to pay those investigated or prosecuted during the Biden administration — including those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on [the] Blanche [nomination],” Mr. Cornyn wrote in a post on X Tuesday. “They know what they have to do.”Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday, Mr. Cornyn said the committee may have to postpone the vote on Mr. Blanche’s nomination until after any kind of anti-weaponization fund is made illegal. “If there’s not enough votes to … confirm him, then Senator Grassley might decide to postpone it. But I don’t think that’s the number one goal right now,” Mr. Cornyn said, referring to the Judiciary Committee’s chairman. Last week, Mr. Tillis confirmed to the New York Sun that he likely would not be supporting Mr. Blanche until the creation of any similar fund in the future is made impossible. He wants to amendment Mr. Trump’s settlement with the IRS which would bar the government from conducting audits of his finances or the finances of his family members and businesses. “The key to this, as I said, [is to] stick a fork in the [anti-weaponization[ fund and tune the language on the audit [provision],” Mr. Tillis said in a brief interview. He says he would be fine with an additional legal agreement to make those changes, saying he hopes that it will be “executed” as quickly as possible. Mr. Tillis said it’s the “fastest” way to get Mr. Blanche confirmed. If he is able to reach the floor, Mr. Blanche is likely to be confirmed on a party-line basis. Senator John Fetterman, who has voted for a number of the president’s cabinet nominees, says he will not support Mr. Blanche’s nomination on the floor.

‘No Deal’ Yet on Blanche Confirmation, Cornyn Says

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