Two key Republican rebels are dropping their resistance against President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have for weeks dug their heels into the ground against confirming acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to fully take over the position. They have been trying to extract concessions from the administration in exchange for their votes.
And those concessions came on Sunday as Blanche’s first key test fast approaches. After warring with Trump and Blanche’s confirmation nearly being withdrawn, the duo are now ready to support the president’s pick to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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"We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon," they said in a joint statement.
Cornyn and Tillis had two primary objectives: ensure, in explicit writing, that the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund would not return, and that Trump’s audit immunity would not extend beyond him and the defendants listed in his lawsuit against the IRS.
Blanche announced on Sunday that the anti-weaponization fund was getting the permanent boot, and that the audit protection was going to be narrowly tailored to Trump and his family.
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Cornyn and Tillis said they "are pleased" with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) formal order to deal with both issues, and noted that doing so addressed "concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share."
Both issues came from the settlement deal Trump and his family reached with the IRS earlier this year that Blanche helped to roll out.
And both lawmakers are needed to advance Blanche out of committee and onto the Senate floor, given that if either one of them balked against the nominee, he would fail and be stuck in limbo.
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Cornyn and Tillis both sparred with Trump over the last few days leading up to this moment.
Trump declared that he would withdraw Blanche’s nomination if neither of them broke their resistance. He reupped the pressure over the weekend when he announced that if Blanche’s confirmation continues to stumble or fail, he would revive the anti-weaponization fund and pressure Congress to codify it.
He declared on Truth Social, "I will keep Todd as Acting AG, and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill," passed through Congress.
Tillis countered that Trump "clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against."
"It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal," Tillis said over the weekend. "Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday."
With the issues appearing to be resolved, the committee vote on Blanche is moving full steam ahead.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, rescheduled the vote for Tuesday after nixing last week’s hearing. A spokesperson for Grassley said his top goal is to see "Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful."
"Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe," they said.