{"id":21495,"date":"2026-07-30T01:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21495"},"modified":"2026-07-30T01:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:00:44","slug":"sen-cornyn-cancels-meeting-with-blanche-as-confirmation-vote-hangs-in-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21495","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Cornyn Cancels Meeting With Blanche as Confirmation Vote Hangs in Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"<script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n\r\n<br><div id=\"article-content\">\n            \n\n\n\n\n<p>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s confirmation is stalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A meeting that was scheduled to take place between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Blanche was cancelled abruptly Wednesday morning \u2014 just a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote to move Blanche\u2019s nomination for Attorney General out of committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Cornyn told reporters the meeting fell through after the Department of Justice failed to send over an adequate written proposal for how to modify the settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cThe meeting with Todd Blanche is off,\u201d Cornyn said Wednesday morning. \u201cWe made clear from the outset that we expected some written proposals to modify the release that was signed in the tax dispute with President Trump and his organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) gave Blanche an ultimatum following his confirmation hearing, saying that they will not vote to move his nomination out of committee until Blanche put into writing the public comments he made saying the so-called $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund that was created as a part of the IRS settlement is \u201cdead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>During the confirmation hearing, Cornyn questioned Blanche on the details of the settlement deal, <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/cornyn-says-hes-undecided-on-blanche-over-acting-ags-response-to-questions-about-slush-fund\" target=\"_blank\">making a point<\/a> that without a written modification to the agreement between the two parties, Trump\u2019s counsel on the case could, in fact, seek to enforce the agreement and force the creation of the slush fund at any point.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The senators from Texas and North Carolina also want the audit immunity agreement for Trump, his family and business that was included in that settlement to be changed.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>A DOJ official told TPM on Wednesday that the DOJ provided the senator\u2019s office with a written proposal on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cThe DOJ provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn\u2019s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator\u2019s office,\u201d the DOJ official said. \u201cWe look forward to further discussion around any outstanding concern.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When asked about that proposal the DOJ said they sent over, Cornyn told reporters: \u201cI haven\u2019t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I\u2019ve requested.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had two meetings scheduled that have now been canceled because they have not been responsive in providing those written documents,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Cornyn added that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told him that he needs to \u201cknow by 4 o\u2019clock this afternoon\u201d whether the markup that was scheduled for Thursday morning to move Blanche\u2019s nomination to the Senate floor is still on.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Opposition from even one Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee would tank Blanche\u2019s chance at confirmation.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe still got a little time, and hopefully they now recognize the seriousness of this and will be responsive,\u201d Cornyn added.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Meanwhile Tillis indicated that he thinks the language on killing the slush fund is \u201cpretty much agreed to\u201d but the audit deal language is still in flux.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI think we have agreement on what the letter has to say, and I believe they are working in good faith,\u201d Tillis <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/igorbobic\/status\/2082486649800245397\" target=\"_blank\">told reporters<\/a>. \u201cWe just got to decide whether or not they can execute it in time for us to have a markup tomorrow, or push it to next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Josh Kovensky contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->          <\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script>\r\n<br><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s confirmation is stalled. A meeting that was scheduled to take place between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Blanche was cancelled abruptly Wednesday morning \u2014 just a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote to move Blanche\u2019s nomination for Attorney General out of committee.\u00a0 Cornyn told reporters the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2287506953.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}