Trump floats pulling Blanche's nomination for attorney general to avoid
conceding to GOP demands
[July 31, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARY CLARE
JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he may pull
acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination for the full-time post
to avoid conceding to Senate Republicans' demands over a sweeping tax
audit immunity deal benefiting the president and members of his family.
After failed negotiations forced the delay of a committee vote to
advance Blanche's nomination, Trump suggested he was holding firm
against pressure from Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. They
have expressed concerns about the controversial settlement of Trump’s
lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, which a judge denounced as
an exercise in self-dealing.
The senators said the Justice Department seemed interested in reaching
an agreement with them, but the White House wouldn't budge to aid the
confirmation of Trump's loyal former personal attorney, who has
aggressively pursued the administration's priorities as acting attorney
general. Instead, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull
Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave
office next year.
“I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty
much on the same page,” Cornyn said Thursday. “But then when the
president got wind of it, he wasn’t willing to go along with it.”
Hours after Trump's post, however, Blanche held a meeting with Cornyn
and Tillis and the two sides were back to working collaboratively,
according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations around
Blanche’s confirmation.
Cornyn and Tillis have said they won't back Blanche's nomination without
additional assurances in writing about the settlement, which included a
deal to drop tax claims against the president and a now-scrapped plan to
create a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” meant to compensate
Trump allies.
With all Democratic senators opposed, just one Republican holdout on the
Senate Judiciary Committee could sink Blanche’s chances for
confirmation. And even if Blanche makes it through the Senate Judiciary
Committee, it’s unclear if he has enough Republican support to be
confirmed by the full chamber.
Cornyn wrote in a social media post Thursday that the president is
“mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax
lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”
While the Justice Department dropped plans for the “Anti-Weaponization
Fund” after bipartisan outrage about the potential of payouts going to
violent Jan. 6 rioters, officials have said that another piece of the
settlement — granting Trump and members of his family immunity from tax
audits — remains in place.
[to top of second column]
|
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is sworn in as he appears
before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington,
July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Though Blanche has repeatedly insisted that the “Anti-Weaponization
fund” is dead, skeptical lawmakers have pushed for a commitment in
writing — especially since Trump has expressed continued support for
the idea. But the senators suggested the White House is resisting
putting it in writing.
“The president’s getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and
others who think if it’s dead, it should be rendered completely
dead,” Tillis told reporters about the fund.
Another sticking point was the settlement's audit immunity provision
that said the U.S. government is “forever barred and precluded” from
scrutinizing or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump
Organization’s current and past tax examinations. Cornyn and Tillis
have pressed the administration to modify the agreement to make
clear that it covers only existing audits and does not protect the
president from examination of future tax filings.
While the majority of Republican senators oppose the settlement, the
main pushback to Blanche has come from Cornyn, who lost his seat
earlier this year when Trump opposed him in a GOP primary. Trump has
also frequently targeted Tillis, who announced last year that he
would not run for re-election and has criticized the administration
over the pardons of Jan. 6 rioters and other matters.
Though it would be politically embarrassing for the Trump
administration, pulling Blanche’s nomination would likely have
little practical impact on the management of the Justice Department.
Blanche, who took the reins of the department after Pam Bondi's
firing in April, can still lead the agency as either acting attorney
general or deputy attorney general, the No. 2 post to which he was
confirmed last year. The deputy attorney general, who oversees the
day-to-day operations of the law enforcement agency, can perform the
duties of the attorney general if that post is vacant.
___
Associated Press reporter Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in
Washington contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
