Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) postponed a Thursday committee vote on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination, his office said Wednesday, after two Republican senators withheld support pending written assurances from the Justice Department on a fund tied to President Donald Trump’s IRS settlement.
A Judiciary Committee spokesperson said the markup was postponed as work continues to secure the votes to favorably report Blanche, framing the delay as an effort to set the nominee up for success rather than failure. The vote, set for 9 a.m. Thursday, had already been pushed back once from the prior week.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), whose vote Blanche needs to clear committee, canceled a meeting with Blanche on Wednesday and had refused to commit his support. Cornyn told reporters Wednesday that the DOJ had not met his demand for written assurances and that he was not prepared to back the nominee.
Cornyn said the fix was simple and that the department was refusing to make it.
“They know what they need to do but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn said of the Justice Department.
The Texas Republican wants the department to formally rescind a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and narrow the scope of an audit immunity provision that shields Trump, his family, and their companies from IRS enforcement on tax returns filed before the settlement.
Cornyn said Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told him he needed an answer by 4 p.m. Wednesday on whether Thursday’s vote could proceed. He made clear where he stood.
“I’m not prepared to vote ‘yes,’ let me put it that way,” Cornyn said, according to NOTUS.
The senator said his staff had already handed the department the exact language it needed and were waiting on a decision.
“Why don’t you call over to the Department of Justice and tell them they have 1 hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for?” Cornyn told reporters. “We actually sent them a red line strikeout of what we need, and they just need to make a decision.”
Cornyn has argued the change must come in writing because the deal could otherwise be revived through a breach-of-contract lawsuit. Blanche testified this month that the fund is “dead,” but the senator has said that verbal assurance is not enough.
The committee holds 12 Republicans and ten Democrats, and every Democrat is expected to oppose Blanche, meaning a single GOP defection would bottle up the nomination.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has pressed the same demands but struck a more optimistic note, telling reporters the language on the fund was “pretty much agreed to” while the audit-deal terms remained in flux. “I think we have agreement on what the letter has to say, and I believe they are working in good faith,” Tillis said.
Grassley, Tillis, and Cornyn met at Cornyn’s office Wednesday evening as negotiations ran past the afternoon deadline, according to the Hill.
The standoff comes weeks after Cornyn pressed Blanche on the fund at his July 15 confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the Judiciary Committee spokesperson said. “Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job.”
A Justice Department official told MS NOW the department “provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”
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