{"id":21513,"date":"2026-07-30T01:24:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21513"},"modified":"2026-07-30T01:24:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:24:44","slug":"trumps-irs-carveout-threatens-to-hold-up-todd-blanche-attorney-general-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21513","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s IRS carveout threatens to hold up Todd Blanche attorney general nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><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<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit_1500w\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260715-todd-blanche-vl-415p-1b1e94.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-076cb3\" class=\"body-graf\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Todd Blanche\u2019s path to confirmation as the next attorney general of the United States faced a setback Wednesday as two key Republicans pressed the Justice Department to commit in writing to kill an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/trump-voluntarily-drops-10-billion-lawsuit-irs-leaked-tax-records-rcna345193\" target=\"_blank\">\u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund<\/a> that could give money to Trump allies and restrict the scope of the tax audit immunity given to the president and his family members.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-16c66d\" class=\"body-graf\">The Senate Judiciary Committee had been set to hold a hearing to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination on Thursday morning, and it would go to the full Senate if advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom have clashed with Trump and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/video\/-yolo-caucus-in-senate-is-lighting-fires-but-stopping-short-of-burning-the-whole-house-down-264653381672\" target=\"_blank\">neither of whom is facing re-election in November<\/a>, have complicated Blanche\u2019s path to confirmation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6cf2f0\" class=\"body-graf\">Much of the discussion has been around the so-called \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d that was established under a purported settlement between Trump and the executive branch he controls over a lawsuit Trump filed over the disclosure of his tax records, which led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/former-irs-contractor-sentenced-5-years-prison-leaking-trump-tax-recor-rcna135908\" target=\"_blank\">a five-year prison sentence for a former IRS contractor<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9d8213\" class=\"body-graf\">A federal judge in Virginia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/judge-indefinitely-blocks-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-rcna349814\" target=\"_blank\">indefinitely blocked the fund <\/a>after a former Jan. 6 prosecutor sued. A federal judge in Florida found that Trump\u2019s IRS lawsuit was brought in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/judge-says-trump-administration-attempted-manipulate-judicial-process-rcna587321\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cbad faith\u201d for an \u201cimproper purpose,\u201d<\/a> and ordered sanctions against several people involved, including Blanche.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-7e5ed8\" class=\"body-graf\">But the settlement agreement also had provisions that offered Trump \u2014 along with his family members and companies \u2014some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/doj-agrees-not-pursue-tax-claims-trump-part-irs-deal-rcna345973\" target=\"_blank\">protection from IRS audits<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e44990\" class=\"body-graf\">Cornyn, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/texas-runoff-primary-election-winner-paxton-trump-cornyn-rcna346552\" target=\"_blank\">lost his primary race to Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a>, had raised concerns with the purported IRS settlement. On Wednesday, Cornyn told reporters that Blanche\u2019s team had failed to provide written proposals to modify the release that was signed in the tax dispute with Trump and his and his organization. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-59277b\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI haven\u2019t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I\u2019ve requested,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-0d57e3\" class=\"body-graf\">Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said he was in active discussions with the Justice Department.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d5cd88\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThey\u2019re working on a draft right now,\u201d Tillis said on Wednesday afternoon. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in constant daily contact with DOJ, and to their credit, they\u2019re engaging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-cd45a5\" class=\"body-graf\">Blanche, who previously served as Trump\u2019s personal defense attorney, had served in the key No. 2 position at the Justice Department until Trump fired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/bondi-fired-attorney-general-trump-rcna266378\" target=\"_blank\">Pam Bondi as attorney general<\/a> in April amid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/trump-frustrated-pam-bondi-ousting-justice-department-rcna266396\" target=\"_blank\">frustrations with her leadership.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-66a834\" class=\"body-graf\">After taking over as the acting attorney general, Blanche <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/todd-blanche-says-americans-happy-trump-deeply-involved-doj-rcna331691\" target=\"_blank\">told NBC News in April that Americans should be \u201chappy\u201d<\/a> that Trump was so involved in Justice Department matters. Less than two weeks later, the Trump administration brought a case against former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime Trump foe, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/james-comey-indicted-seashell-photo-officials-said-threatened-trump-rcna247022\" target=\"_blank\">over an Instagram photo of seashells<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f7d462\" class=\"body-graf\">Following the Comey indictment, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/comey-indicted-trump-said-happy-acting-attorney-general-blanche-rcna342664\" target=\"_blank\">was said to be happy with Blanche\u2019s job performance <\/a>and ultimately ended up nominating him for the job<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/trump-administration\/trump-nominate-todd-blanche-permanent-attorney-general-rcna348385\" target=\"_blank\"> permanently<\/a>. Comey\u2019s legal team <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/james-comey-legal-team-argues-dojs-seashells-case-erodes-bedrock-princ-rcna589659\" target=\"_blank\">argued in a court filing this week<\/a> that the seashells case came about because Blanche was seeking to \u201cplease President Trump\u201d during his \u201caudition\u201d for the role. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5b5610\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">During his confirmation hearing this month, Blanche <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/todd-blanche-confirmation-hearing-trump-rcna587290\" target=\"_blank\">said he was not a \u201cyes man\u201d for Trump<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Todd Blanche\u2019s path to confirmation as the next attorney general of the United States faced a setback Wednesday as two key Republicans pressed the Justice Department to commit in writing to kill an \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund that could give money to Trump allies and restrict the scope of the tax audit immunity given to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260715-todd-blanche-vl-415p-1b1e94.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21513","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=21513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}