A key Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed skepticism Sunday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will be confirmed to the position permanently.
When speaking about the likelihood that Blanche could get confirmed, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he isn’t sure a deal can be reached between Trump and hesitant GOP holdouts and that he “wouldn’t bet my house on it.”
“And if I were betting your house, it would just be a maybe,” he said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina will not support Blanche unless the Trump administration provides proof that it has formally killed the $1.8 billion payout fund for those who believe they are victims of Justice Department political persecution. The GOP holdouts have also demanded that the scope of an agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS, brokered by the Department of Justice, to not investigate the president, his family or his businesses be significantly narrowed.
The DOJ announced the fund in May, but dropped it nearly two weeks later amid bipartisan backlash.
Blanche met with Cornyn behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss what it would take to earn his vote. Cornyn told MS NOW on Friday that his meeting with Blanche was “constructive,” but that they are “not there yet.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told MS NOW last week that she also has reservations about the fund and Trump’s immunity from IRS audits.
Kennedy did not rule out supporting a bill floated by Trump on Saturday to make the fund “the law of the land,” saying, “Well, I’d have to read it first.” Still, he said, any of the Jan. 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol and attacked police officers in 2021, should not be able to receive any compensation from such a fund.
“I’d take them off the table,” Kennedy said.
The uncertainty over Blanche’s nomination led the president on Thursday to suggest withdrawing his nomination until Cornyn and Tillis are out of office in January — a risky move if Democrats win control of Congress in the midterm elections. (Cornyn lost his GOP primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by Trump, in May and Tillis — facing the prospect of a Trump-backed primary opponent — announced in April that he would not run for re-election.)
The committee vote to advance Blanche’s nomination to the Senate floor was originally set for Thursday, but has been postponed until Tuesday. But it’s uncleaif the panel will meet amid continued uncertainty.
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