Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general hangs by a thread ahead of Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee vote — and the holdup isn't Democrats, it's a Republican who wants a $1.8 billion settlement fund killed in writing before he'll sign off.
Why it matters: Blanche is the man Trump tapped to reform a Justice Department that spent years turning its powers on political enemies. But the same DOJ, under Blanche's watch as acting AG, cut a deal with Trump himself that created a loosely controlled billion-dollar fund and handed the president's family blanket immunity from tax audits. If a Republican senator can't get straight answers, the confirmation stalls — and so does the reform.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Wednesday he will not support Blanche's nomination until he receives written confirmation that the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund is dead and that a provision granting Trump, his sons, and related businesses blanket immunity from tax audits cannot be applied to future matters or to people who were not parties to the settlement.
"Maybe they think I'm just going to give up or, you know, go along, but they're mistaken," Cornyn said, according to The Guardian. "We actually sent them a red-line strikeout of what we need, and they just need to make a decision. And if they do, then we'll proceed with the markup tomorrow."
Blanche needs every Republican on the Judiciary panel to advance his nomination. Cornyn is the swing vote.
The settlement at issue resolved a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over the unauthorized leak of his tax returns. The deal created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who say they are victims of government weaponization and gave Trump, his family, and businesses blanket immunity from audits on anything filed until the agreement was reached. The DOJ made no effort to defend itself from the lawsuit, prompting the federal judge overseeing the case to conclude it was brought with an "improper purpose."
Blanche announced in June that the department was scrapping the fund. But he has repeatedly declined to say so in writing. Pressed by Cornyn during his confirmation hearing, Blanche acknowledged that Trump or other plaintiffs in the case could try to enforce the settlement agreement. He also did not say the tax immunity provision was dead.
Breitbart ran an op-ed from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan urging swift confirmation, calling Blanche "tough and fearless, fair and principled" and crediting him with turning the DOJ away from Biden-era lawfare. Jordan cited falling homicide rates, new fraud investigations, and the rollback of DEI programs. Notably absent from Jordan's pitch: any mention of the settlement fund or Cornyn's hold.
Cornyn, a four-term senator who lost a re-election bid earlier this year to a Trump-endorsed rival, has no obvious political incentive to cave. His demand is straightforward — put it in writing — and the refusal to meet it raises its own questions.
The open question heading into Thursday's vote: Can the Senate confirm a man to run the Justice Department who won't put his own word on paper? And if Blanche won't kill this fund in writing, what does that tell us about who the reform actually serves?
