Republicans were able to reach an agreement to vote Todd Blanche’s nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee despite some senators’ concerns about the president’s “anti-weaponization fund.”
Blanche’s nomination for attorney general passed the committee Tuesday with a vote of 12 to 10 along party lines. It will now go before the entire Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.
‘Well, there’s nothing we could do to rein in the president, when he said he likes the fund, wishes it still exists.’
Democrats blasted the holdouts for caving on their demand that the Trump administration agree in writing to abandon the fund.
“To state the obvious, Mr. Blanche’s statement on the slush fund and the IRS immunity agreement are not signed by the parties to the settlement agreement and are therefore unenforceable,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee.
“The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement and the cop-beaters fund can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general,” he added.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of the previous dissenters, told reporters afterward that they got the assurance they needed to approve the nomination.
“Well, there’s nothing we could do to rein in the president, when he said he likes the fund, wishes it still exists,” he said. “But the fact of the matter it’s dead, and that’s all we could do under these circumstances.”
President Donald Trump had excoriated Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) for stalling the nomination in order to seek assurances that the fund was dead. Tillis is retiring, and Cornyn was defeated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary runoff this year.
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Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas enthusiastically supported the nomination.
“America is safer today because Todd Blanche is serving at the Department of Justice. Now it’s time for the Senate to confirm him,” he wrote on social media.
Passing the Senate is complicated by the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has been hospitalized for weeks and is reportedly in a rehabilitation facility over health issues.
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