Blanche wins GOP support after scrapping Trump anti-weaponization fund

Todd Blanche cleared a critical Senate hurdle after dropping the nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that had blocked his confirmation, and two Republican holdouts signaled they would now vote to move him forward. The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to meet Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. in the 216 Hart Senate Office Building to consider the nomination.

The turn came after John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina withheld support over a Trump-settlement plan that would have created the fund to compensate people who said they had been wronged by the government, including political allies of President Donald Trump. The two senators wanted assurance that Blanche would not revive the proposal, and Blanche formally rescinded it in an order issued late Sunday before they said they would back him.

The fight exposed how little room Republicans have to absorb defections on a high-profile nomination. With the party holding only a narrow majority, Cornyn and Tillis were decisive not only for getting Blanche out of committee, but for keeping the administration from losing momentum on a nominee who would lead the Justice Department on Trump’s terms. The committee had been expected to vote on July 30 before the dispute forced a postponement.

Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general, told senators at his July confirmation hearing that he was not a “yes man.” Trump at one point considered withdrawing Blanche’s nomination and renominating him later as the standoff dragged on, underscoring how much leverage the GOP holdouts had over the White House’s timeline.

A committee advance would not finish the job. Blanche still needed a final floor vote in the Senate, where Republicans’ narrow edge makes every wavering vote matter. The deal over the anti-weaponization fund showed that, in this Congress, confirmation fights can turn on a single concession written into an order and a small bloc of senators willing to use their numbers.