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Trump
Threatens
to
Temporarily
Withdraw
Todd
Blanche’s
Attorney
General
Nomination
Amid GOP
Senate
Standoff
Ashley
Roberts
-
Capitol
Hill
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
-
President
Donald
Trump
signaled
Thursday
that he
is
prepared
to
temporarily
withdraw
the
nomination
of Todd
Blanche
to serve
as U.S.
Attorney
General,
escalating
a
high-stakes
standoff
with
Republican
lawmakers
over a
controversial
Justice
Department
settlement.
The move
comes
after
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
was
forced
to
postpone
a
scheduled
confirmation
vote on
Thursday.
With a
slim GOP
majority
on the
committee,
the
opposition
of two
key
Republican
senators—John
Cornyn
of Texas
and Thom
Tillis
of North
Carolina—effectively
blocked
Blanche’s
path to
confirmation.
At the
center
of the
dispute
are
concessions
sought
by
Cornyn
and
Tillis
regarding
a
settlement
reached
between
the
Department
of
Justice
and
President
Trump.
The
agreement,
arising
from a
lawsuit
over
leaked
tax
returns,
originally
contained
provisions
establishing
a $1.8
billion
"Anti-Weaponization
Fund"
for
Trump
allies
and
granting
broad
tax
audit
protection
to the
president
and his
family.
While
Blanche
has
stated
publicly
that the
fund
will not
move
forward,
both
senators
have
demanded
written
guarantees
that the
provision
is dead
and
assurances
that any
tax
immunity
applies
strictly
to past
audits,
not
future
filings.
In a
series
of posts
on Truth
Social
on
Thursday
morning,
President
Trump
praised
his
former
defense
attorney
as "a
STAR"
and
threatened
to
bypass
the
Senate
confirmation
process
altogether
for the
time
being.
"I have
no
objection
to
temporarily
withdrawing
Todd's
name, if
they do
not do
the
right
thing,
and
putting
him back
after
Cornyn
and
Tillis
are out
of
office,"
Trump
wrote.
Both
Cornyn
and
Tillis
are set
to leave
Congress
in
January.
Trump
noted
that
Blanche,
who
currently
serves
as
Acting
Attorney
General,
can
legally
remain
in the
interim
role
under
federal
succession
rules
until a
permanent
nominee
is
confirmed.
The
president’s
sharp
rhetoric
drew
swift
responses
from
Capitol
Hill.
Sen.
Cornyn
countered
that
concerns
over the
IRS
settlement
extend
beyond
just
himself
and
Tillis.
"POTUS
is
mistaken
if he
believes
concerns
about
the
provisions
in his
tax
lawsuit
settlement
are
limited
to me
and
Senator
Tillis,"
Cornyn
posted.
Earlier,
Cornyn
indicated
that
negotiations
between
the
committee
and the
DOJ had
run into
complications
due to
"pushback
from
higher
ups at
the
White
House."
Sen.
Tillis
similarly
criticized
the
strategy,
telling
reporters,
"The
president's
not
winning
on this
issue...
It is
killing
some of
our
candidates
because
they
can't
explain
it."
The
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
has not
yet
announced
a
rescheduled
date for
the
confirmation
vote as
negotiations
over
written
assurances
remain
stalled.
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