Topline
President Donald Trump suggested Thursday he could temporarily pull Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general until the next Congressional term, as Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have held up the confirmation vote by demanding changes to Trump’s settlement agreement with the IRS—but both senators are due to soon leave the Senate.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche is seen after leaving a meeting on Capitol Hill on July 29 in Washington, DC.
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Key Facts
Trump responded on Truth Social to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s planned vote on Blanche, which was set for Thursday, getting postponed amid continued objections from Cornyn and Tillis.
Cornyn and Tillis—who will both leave the Senate at the end of this term—have so far refused to vote for Blanche until the DOJ modifies its settlement with Trump in his lawsuit against the IRS, which established a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and shielded the president and his affiliates from some legal liability.
Blanche’s nomination won’t be able to move forward if even one Republican on the committee opposes him, making Cornyn and Tillis’ support critical.
Trump said Thursday that Blanche “is a STAR” and criticized Cornyn and Tillis for opposing him, pointing out their “political careers have been ended by my action” after he failed to endorse them for reelection.
Rather than giving in to the senators’ demands on the IRS agreement, Trump said he has “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.”
Blanche can continue to serve as acting attorney general without being confirmed to the position permanently, but Trump’s strategy of confirming Blanche in the next Congressional term could face issues if Democrats were to regain control of the Senate in the midterm elections.
News Peg
Trump’s Truth Social post Thursday came shortly after Cornyn and Tillis told reporters there still wasn’t a deal on the IRS settlement, and suggested the White House—though not necessarily the president—was stopping the DOJ from reaching an agreement with the senators. “I think if this were just between me and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out. But apparently he’s getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House,” Cornyn said Thursday. “I don’t know who, but this doesn’t need to be this hard.” Tillis, similarly, told CNN the hold up on making a deal was “not about Blanche,” adding the DOJ head was “negotiating in good faith” with the senators. “We have somebody else in the way, and I don’t believe it’s the president, and hopefully we can resolve it,” Tillis said.
What Are Cornyn And Tillis Asking For?
Cornyn and Tillis want the DOJ to modify the IRS settlement in writing, including by formally withdrawing the settlement fund and narrowing the scope of the immunity deal. Blanche has testified to Congress that the fund is not moving forward, but the DOJ has refused to put that in writing or formally withdraw the fund. The GOP senators want written assurances that the fund is dead and cannot be revived, essentially codifying what Blanche has already said verbally. They also want to limit the scope of the immunity deal, as the language appears to give Trump, his eldest sons and any related entities broad immunity from federal prosecution or civil action based on any action that had been taken, or any tax returns that had been filed, before the settlement agreement was reached in May. (Blanche has disputed that the agreement is as broad as its language suggests.) Cornyn and Tillis want the government to modify the agreement to ensure it cannot be used to prevent investigations into Trump’s future tax returns, and keep it from being applied to other parties who weren’t involved in the litigation, The New York Times reports. Tillis has suggested the immunity deal has been more of a sticking point in negotiations than the fund.
How Long Can Todd Blanche Serve As Acting Attorney General?
Acting appointees can typically serve for 210 days without being formally confirmed, but once there’s a nominee to take over the position permanently, the acting officer can stay in the role for the entire time the nomination is pending. That means Blanche doesn’t face any deadline to leave his acting AG post now without being fully confirmed, though if Trump withdraws his nomination, it could start the 210-day clock again until he’s formally re-nominated. Legal experts have been conflicted over whether the 210-day clock actually applies to Blanche at all, however, as he was promoted to the job after being deputy attorney general. The Attorney General Succession Act allows deputy attorneys general to act as attorney general if the position is vacant, and legal experts offered differing views to Politico over whether the 210-day limit applies under that law. Even if it did and Blanche overstayed his time as acting AG, it’s still unlikely he’d be kicked out of the job, however, as Lawfare notes there’s no effective legal mechanism to remove executive officers who stay longer than federal law allows.