Trump Says He Will Keep Blanche In Acting Status If Needed

President Donald Trump said Thursday he would keep Todd Blanche as acting attorney general and wait out his rivals if the nomination remains stalled in the Senate.

The president criticized Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — both of whom have clashed with Trump and are set to leave office in January — for refusing to vote for Blanche. The Senate Judiciary Committee ditched plans to advance Blanche’s nomination on Thursday, as Cornyn and Tillis refused to support the president’s nominees over the fate of the controversial Justice Department-brokered settlement agreement the president reached with the IRS earlier this year.

“He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting,” the president said in a post on Truth Social, adding that he had “no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.”

Cornyn immediately pushed back, warning that “POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”

Trump’s insinuation that there would be no deal with Cornyn and Tillis came hours after the Texas Republican sent the Justice Department afresh offer to resolve the standoff over Blanche’s nomination.

The negotiations surround modifications to the controversial DOJ-brokered settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS. But Cornyn told reporters that the administration remained “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, which he said was essential to Blanche winning his vote. He also said it was “looking doubtful” the impasse would get resolved before the Senate departs next week for a five-week August recess.

“I thought we were very close to landing the plane last night,” he said. “But wake up this morning, and sounds like there's other people intervening.”

He added, “It’s not Todd Blanche making the decisions.”

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles visited the Capitol office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune Wednesday afternoon as the holdouts negotiated over the settlement agreement, though it’s not clear whether they discussed the fate of Blanche’s nomination.

The back-and-forth prompted Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) topostpone the planned Thursday committee vote on Blanche’s nomination as Cornyn and Tillis continued to haggle over the IRS settlement. Either man’s “no” vote would essentially bottle up Blanche’s nomination in the Judiciary panel.

Blanche testified to the committee on July 16 that the "anti-weaponization fund” set out in the settlement was dead as well as that restrictions on IRS audits of Trump are limited. Cornyn pointed to that testimony Thursday as crucial elements that he wants in writing.

“The administration and DOJ know where we stand, and they can decide whether they want this problem solved or not,” Cornyn said. “I don’t know whether they think they can wait us out or think we’ll cave.”

A DOJ official granted anonymity to describe the sensitive negotiations said the department sent “new language” to Cornyn and Tillis Wednesday night. But Cornyn had called previous DOJproposals not “responsive” to his concerns.

Before Trump announced he would not accede to the Senate holdouts, Thune said in an interview Thursday he still hoped to resolve the standoff.

“I think they’re working on trying to get the questions answered so they can tee him up and move him soon, like probably next week,” he said.