President Trump may “temporarily withdraw” his nominee for attorney general after Senator Chuck Grassley cancelled today’s scheduled Judiciary Committee meeting to vote on Todd Blanche.
A Grassley spokesperson said late last night that two other Republicans on the committee want “written assurances” from the Justice Department about Trump’s IRS settlement before they’ll support having acting Attorney General Todd Blanche serve in the role permanently. The two Republican senators say they’ll only vote for Blanche if it’s clear a previously proposed $1.776 billion fund for victims of Justice Department “weaponization” is formally abandoned. If either were to vote no, Blanche’s nomination would fail.
The two GOP hold-outs on Blanche’s nomination on the committee are North Carolina Thom Tillis and Texas Senator John Cornyn. Trump announced today on his Truth Social platform that he’s open to “temporarily withdrawing” Blanche’s nomination until both senators leave office at the end of the year. Cornyn replied online, saying Trump “is mistaken” if he believes there are just two GOP senators who have concerns about the settlement provisions from his tax lawsuit.
(This posted was updated at 11:55 a.m. with new information.)