Todd Blanche Wins Republican Reassurance, But Senate Support Still Wobbles

After clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, the rest of the Senate will now vote on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, but some remain uncertain.

Blanche, who held broad support from Republicans, faced some unexpected hurdles in his confirmation hearing last week when Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) pressed him to modify the controversial settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The two senators quickly changed their tune, however, once the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Blanche complied, providing written assurances that the anti-weaponization fund and Trump’s audit immunity were no longer in effect.

“While this may sound like nitpicking to some, it's critically important not only to me but to other members of the Senate,” Sen. Cornyn said before casting his vote in favor of Blanche.

Sen. Cornyn said Blanche had made several crucial claims before the committee last week, which he wanted solidified before locking in his vote. On Sunday, Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Tillis met with the DOJ and Blanche to finalize that written agreement.

“This document will help limit the substance and scope of the audit protection to the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, and it limits it to the parties to the audit settlement,” Sen. Cornyn said.

Sen. Cornyn said he is confident the DOJ and Blanche will stick to this agreement, despite Trump claiming last week that the fund was not yet officially dead.

“But my vote to advance Mr. Blanche's nomination goes beyond this document,” he clarified. “We need a stabilizing force at the Department of Justice, and Mr. Blanche deserves the opportunity to provide that, as opposed to continuing to serve in an acting capacity…”

But other Republican senators are also not yet fully behind Blanche, leaving his official confirmation vote in question. And while these lawmakers may be subtly uncertain, Democrats are still not satisfied that the DOJ and Blanche will stick by their word.

“We got nothing, no guarantees whatsoever, that this slush fund still can't go forward,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said. “We got nothing that the president of the United States can't cheat on his taxes and have no accountability.”

Pointing to a New York Times investigation from 2018 that detailed what he called Trump’s “tax cheating,” Sen. Booker said the president had repeatedly avoided accountability for his tax practices.

“No president in the history of this country has been caught in tax cheating more than this one,” he said.

While Sen. Booker said he appreciated the pushback from Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Tillis, he argued President Trump and Blanche have yet to be held accountable for presenting this settlement in the first place.

“I have a lot of respect for my colleagues, love the state of Texas, but I'm going to say it very clearly: this is all hat and no cattle,” Sen. Booker said. “It's hard for me to say this as a plant-based guy, but where's the beef? Where's the beef? This is ridiculous.”