WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as United States Attorney General.
Blanche has been serving as Acting AG since Pam Bondi was fired in early April.
Tuesday’s committee approval along party lines was especially significant because two key Senate Republican holdouts on the committee, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, voted to advance Blanche’s nomination.
The breakthrough came after Cornyn and Tillis said they were satisfied with a deal involving Blanche formally rescinding the Trump administration’s controversial $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund.
“It’s done. It’s been rescinded, and I am satisfied,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said during the committee meeting Tuesday. “I believe that we have addressed the concerns that I have. The first one I called the payout pot for punks… I thought it was an insult to the police officers and the people that defended us on January the sixth.”
The creation of the fund was part of a settlement between President Trump and the IRS over leaked tax records. Critics argue the fund’s purpose was to compensate political allies and Jan. 6 defendants, potentially even those who assaulted law enforcement officers.
Although Tillis and Cornyn say they’re satisfied by the deal, some legal analysts argue that there are still ways to provide the controversial compensation.
“The president has said that he still wants to go through with it. And I think there’s a prospect that the president will try to go through with it,” said Dan Greenberg, senior legal fellow at the Cato Institute. “All that has to be accomplished in order to reestablish or to start up the anti-weaponization fund is to award people funds that are already in the Justice Department compensation fund- that already takes place just about every day.”
The IRS settlement also involved a deal to shield the Trump family from tax audits. Greenberg argues Blanche, Trump’s former defense attorney, played a key role in striking the tax deal — a deal that Greenberg said, “vastly overcompensates” Trump.
“Todd Blanche has a bad record of protecting taxpayers against what the president wants… a record of being a poor fiduciary, an unreliable fiduciary to stand up for the interests of the United States,” said Greenberg. “I really don’t see any good reason to believe that Todd Blanche is suddenly going to acquire steel in his spine and act differently than the way he’s acted in the past.”
With the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Blanche can afford only two Republican defections on a party-line vote.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Tuesday evening she will not vote to confirm Blanche.
“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political,” said Collins. “Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation.”
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., are still undecided.
A final vote is expected in the Senate before the end of the week. However, any additional GOP opposition could impact the timing of the vote.
