WASHINGTON — Sen. Thom Tillis said Saturday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche "will not be confirmed" for the permanent job, hours after President Trump threatened on Truth Social to keep Blanche in place indefinitely and revive a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" that has kept the North Carolina Republican and Sen. John Cornyn from voting yes.
The exchange sets up a Senate Judiciary Committee vote that Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa rescheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, days before the Senate leaves Washington for its August recess.
Trump's Saturday post reversed a Friday concession in which he had pronounced the fund "dead." By morning, he told the two holdouts to fall in line or watch him install Blanche without them. "If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn't Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren't going to approve Todd Blanche," Trump wrote, he would "keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill" through Congress.
The holdouts' terms
Cornyn and Tillis have conditioned their votes on written assurances that the administration will not restart the fund, which NBC News reported would compensate Jan. 6 rioters Trump pardoned for claims of government overreach. The Justice Department has told the senators that Blanche's May 18 order establishing the fund is "rescinded and shall have no force or effect," according to a document reviewed by The Associated Press and cited by PBS NewsHour.
The senators also want limits spelled out on a separate provision of the underlying IRS lawsuit settlement that grants Trump and his family immunity from tax audits. Cornyn told reporters this week that the immunity could extend to more than 100 Trump organization subsidiaries.
Tillis, who announced his retirement after Trump attacked him over a domestic policy vote, wrote on X on Saturday that the president "clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks." He added: "It's unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday."
The president's case
Trump used a Cabinet meeting to argue that the pardoned defendants deserve payment. "It is dead, but you know, I wish it weren't," he said. He described the people covered by the fund as "horribly treated" and told reporters, "I'd like to see them compensated." A spokesperson for Grassley said the Tuesday calendar slot "gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President's nominee."
Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who was a member of Trump's defense team during the president's four indictments, told the committee at his hearing this month that the fund was "dead" and would not move forward. Trump said earlier in the week that if the panel blocks Blanche, he will withdraw the nomination and resubmit it in January, when both Cornyn and Tillis have left office.
The Senate returns from its recess in mid-September. Democrats have called the fund a "slush fund," and CBS News reported that Republican senators not on the Judiciary Committee also share the two holdouts' concerns, meaning even a Tuesday win for Blanche would not guarantee floor confirmation.