{"id":22396,"date":"2026-07-30T21:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22396"},"modified":"2026-07-30T21:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:24:19","slug":"trump-threatens-to-pull-todd-blanches-ag-nomination-until-after-gop-holdouts-leave-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22396","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens to pull Todd Blanche\u2019s AG nomination until after GOP holdouts leave office"},"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<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-37115d\" class=\"body-graf\">President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to withdraw Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination to be attorney general until two Republican senators who have expressed concerns about Blanche leave office in January.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b0fd9f\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd\u2019s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office,\u201d he said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117009581290419286\" target=\"_blank\">Thursday post<\/a> to Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a0b111\" class=\"body-graf\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/trumps-irs-carveout-threatens-hold-todd-blanche-attorney-general-nomin-rcna589617\" target=\"_blank\">The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed<\/a> a vote to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination over objections from Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. A single Republican no vote would mean the nomination fails to advance.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6e00db\" class=\"body-graf\">The pair have expressed hesitancy to support Blanche over concerns with Trump\u2019s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-85521a\" class=\"body-graf\">Responding to Trump\u2019s post, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/2082851774143021356\" target=\"_blank\">Cornyn said on X<\/a> that the president \u201cis mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ba5bc4\" class=\"body-graf\">As part of the IRS lawsuit settlement, the Justice Department created a $1.776 so-called \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund. The DOJ backtracked after bipartisan criticism, but Cornyn and Tillis are pushing for the Justice Department to formalize the verbal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/trump-administration\/todd-blanche-doj-anti-weaponization-fund-rcna348154\" target=\"_blank\">commitment in writing.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-933067\" class=\"body-graf\">The lawmakers are also asking that the Justice Department narrow part of the settlement that provided Trump, his family members and companies with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/doj-agrees-not-pursue-tax-claims-trump-part-irs-deal-rcna345973\" target=\"_blank\">protections against IRS audits.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e7b0d7\" class=\"body-graf\">Tillis told reporters on Thursday that he believed Blanche was \u201ctrying to fulfill the commitment he made in the hearing\u201d but that someone was \u201cin the way.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-623ba8\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cTodd Blanche is negotiating in good faith, but it\u2019s clear that the approval to get this done is above his pay grade, and we just need to get to that pay grade,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s the president. I got to get to finance guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-20ee4e\" class=\"body-graf\">Cornyn expressed a similar view, telling reporters that he believed \u201cif this were just between me and and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9387d2\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cBut apparently, he\u2019s getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who, but this doesn\u2019t need to be this hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ea7123\" class=\"body-graf\">Cornyn said that the Justice Department was reluctant to change the formal settlement documents, so his team instead proposed \u201csome additional paper\u201d that would commit Blanche to his sworn Judiciary Committee testimony. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bbae1f\" class=\"body-graf\">If the Justice Department agreed, Cornyn said his concerns would be satisfied. During his congressional testimony, Blanche testified the weaponization fund \u201cis dead,\u201d the audit protections do not extend beyond the parties to the lawsuit, and the settlement \u201cdoesn\u2019t cover any government entity except the IRS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-555035\" class=\"body-graf\">Inside the White House, a senior administration official said that people familiar with conversations involving Cornyn accused the senator of moving the goalposts, canceling meetings and refusing to communicate with the department.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-db0722\" class=\"body-graf\">Cornyn lost his primary election to the Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Tillis, who has clashed with Trump repeatedly, is retiring at the end of his term.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1055d7\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Trump took credit for the pair leaving office at the end of their terms, saying in his post that their \u201cpolitical careers have been ended by my action.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"articleDevelopingTag\" data-testid=\"article-developing-tag\">\n<p>This is a<span class=\"articleDevelopingTag__content--red\"> developing <\/span>story. Please check back for updates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-social-share-bottom\">\n<div class=\"styles_expandedBylineContributors__piAGv articleBylineContainer\">\n<div class=\"styles_expandedByline__A_FvE article-expanded-byline\" data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div class=\"byline-thumbnail byline-thumbnail--has-image styles_thumbnail__LPjZA\" data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/author\/megan-brand-ncpn1275337\" tabindex=\"-1\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"focal\" data-original-height=\"48\" data-original-width=\"48\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/newscms\/2024_26\/3653107\/240627-megan-lebowitz.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_26\/3653107\/240627-megan-lebowitz.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_26\/3653107\/240627-megan-lebowitz.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"48\" width=\"48\"\/><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"expanded-byline__bio-wrapper styles_bio__hOj3l\">\n<p class=\"byline-bio styles_bio__hOj3l\">Megan Brand is a politics reporter for NBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"styles_expandedByline__A_FvE article-expanded-byline\" data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div class=\"byline-thumbnail byline-thumbnail--has-image styles_thumbnail__LPjZA\" data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/author\/frank-thorp-v-ncpn2876\" tabindex=\"-1\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"focal\" data-original-height=\"48\" data-original-width=\"48\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/newscms\/2020_02\/3181716\/frank-thorp-circle-byline-template.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2020_02\/3181716\/frank-thorp-circle-byline-template.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2020_02\/3181716\/frank-thorp-circle-byline-template.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"48\" width=\"48\"\/><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"expanded-byline__bio-wrapper styles_bio__hOj3l\">\n<p class=\"byline-bio styles_bio__hOj3l\">Frank Thorp V is a coordinating producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"styles_expandedByline__A_FvE article-expanded-byline\" data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div class=\"byline-thumbnail byline-thumbnail--has-image styles_thumbnail__LPjZA\" data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/author\/julie-tsirkin-ncpn947511\" tabindex=\"-1\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"focal\" data-original-height=\"48\" data-original-width=\"48\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/newscms\/2024_46\/3669091\/241113-julie-tsirkin.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_46\/3669091\/241113-julie-tsirkin.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_46\/3669091\/241113-julie-tsirkin.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"48\" width=\"48\"\/><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"expanded-byline__bio-wrapper styles_bio__hOj3l\">\n<p class=\"byline-bio styles_bio__hOj3l\">Julie\u00a0Tsirkin is a\u00a0correspondent covering Capitol Hill and the White House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"styles_expandedByline__A_FvE article-expanded-byline\" data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div class=\"byline-thumbnail byline-thumbnail--has-image styles_thumbnail__LPjZA\" data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/author\/brennan-leach-ncpn1306015\" tabindex=\"-1\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"focal\" data-original-height=\"48\" data-original-width=\"48\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/newscms\/2025_39\/3705686\/ikfy3mmf.jpeg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2025_39\/3705686\/ikfy3mmf.jpeg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2025_39\/3705686\/ikfy3mmf.jpeg\" alt=\"\" height=\"48\" width=\"48\"\/><\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"expanded-byline__bio-wrapper styles_bio__hOj3l\">\n<p class=\"byline-bio styles_bio__hOj3l\">Brennan Leach is an associate producer for NBC News covering the Senate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ryan J. Karlin<!-- -->, <!-- -->Patrick Maguire<!-- -->, <!-- -->Sarah Dean<!-- -->, <!-- -->Kelly O&#8217;Donnell<!-- --> and <!-- -->Michael Kosnar<!-- --> <!-- -->contributed<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\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>President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to withdraw Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination to be attorney general until two Republican senators who have expressed concerns about Blanche leave office in January. \u201cI have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd\u2019s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22397,"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\/260730-todd-blanche-donald-trump-ew-1153a-919c6d.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22396","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\/22396","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=22396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}