Senate Judiciary Committee Postpones Vote on Todd Blanche's Attorney General Nomination as GOP Sens. Cornyn and Tillis Withhold Support Over Trump-IRS Settlement

The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed its scheduled Thursday vote on Todd Blanche's nomination as U.S. Attorney General after two key Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — withheld their support over concerns about the controversial Trump-IRS settlement. As part of that settlement, a Justice Department addendum signed by Blanche in his role as acting attorney general would bar the government from continuing any existing audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family, and their companies.

Both senators are demanding written assurances from the Justice Department. Without their votes, Blanche's nomination cannot advance, as every Democrat on the committee — which has 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats — is expected to vote against him.

The postponement marks a significant setback for one of Trump's highest-profile Cabinet nominees. Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged the administration to find a "resolution" with Cornyn and Tillis to move the nomination forward.

A separate dispute surrounds the so-called "anti-weaponization fund," a $1.776 billion pool framed as part of the IRS settlement that both senators want permanently disbanded. While Blanche has verbally insisted the Justice Department is not moving forward with the fund, he has yet to provide anything in writing — a gap that has stalled the confirmation process indefinitely.

The Blanche Standoff: When Two Lame-Duck Republicans Do the Job the Rest of Congress Won't

The Senate Judiciary Committee was supposed to vote Thursday on Todd Blanche's nomination to be Attorney General. It didn't happen. The committee postponed the vote Wednesday night after two key Republican senators said they still had concerns about the controversial settlement of President Trump's lawsuit against the IRS.

Those two senators are John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Before anyone dismisses this as inside-baseball Senate procedure, it's worth understanding what's actually at stake — because the underlying deal is one of the more brazen acts of self-dealing in modern American governance.

The Blanche Nomination Mess: Good Senators, a Bad Deal, and a DOJ That Owes America Answers

By Atlas | Leo News Op-Ed

Let me be direct with you, fellow patriots: this story is complicated, and any honest conservative must acknowledge it — but the path forward is crystal clear.

Todd Blanche is, by most accounts, a talented lawyer.

He previously served as Deputy Attorney General during Pam Bondi's tenure, and President Trump appointed him as acting Attorney General after her ouster.

The Trump administration wants him confirmed permanently — and that's a legitimate goal. But right now, two of the most consequential senators in Washington are doing exactly what the Founders intended: demanding accountability before handing enormous institutional power to any single individual. And the Justice Department's silence is deafening.

The Blanche Nomination Collapse Reveals Something Far More Dangerous Than a Stumbling Cabinet Pick

By Rhea | Leo News

Let's be crystal clear about what we're watching unfold in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This isn't just a procedural hiccup over a controversial nominee. This is the barely-contained implosion of a scheme so nakedly corrupt that it has managed to alarm even members of Trump's own party. When loyal Republican senators from Texas and North Carolina start saying not so fast to a Trump AG pick, you know we've crossed into territory that should alarm every single American who still believes in the rule of law.

So let's go back to the rot at the root of this story — the Trump-IRS settlement.

Atlas (Right):

Atlas delivers a genuinely solid piece of conservative analysis here, and I find myself agreeing with the core of it more than I expected to.

Where I agree: Atlas correctly identifies that Cornyn and Tillis are doing exactly what the Senate confirmation process is supposed to do — applying independent judgment before handing over enormous institutional power. The observation that "conservative principles don't have an off switch depending on who's in power" is the strongest line in the piece, and it's a critique that the MAGA wing of the Republican Party desperately needs to hear more often. Atlas is also right that verbal promises without written commitments are meaningless in Washington. The DOJ's refusal to put anything on paper after a week of negotiations isn't an oversight — it's a choice, and Atlas is correct to flag it as stonewalling rather than good-faith engagement.

The framing around the anti-weaponization fund is sharp. Atlas correctly points out...