Sen. John Cornyn said Thursday he has sent the Justice Department a new offer to resolve the standoff that has thrown Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general into limbo.
The negotiations surround modifications to a controversial DOJ-brokered settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS. Cornyn said the administration remains “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement — which the Texas Republican says is essential to Blanche winning his vote.
“We provided some additional paper that basically committed him to his sworn testimony from the Judiciary Committee — which, if he would put that in writing, would satisfy my concerns,” Cornyn said.
The back-and-forth comes after Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) postponed a Thursday committee vote on Blanche’s nomination as Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) continue to haggle over the IRS settlement. Either man’s “no” vote could 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 on Wednesday night. But Cornyn had called previous Justice Department proposals not “responsive” to his concerns, and it remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached before the Senate leaves next week for August recess.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Thursday that the GOP’s goal is to resolve the standoff as quickly as possible.
“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,” Thune said.
Thune added that the “idea” is still to try to confirm Blanche before the Senate leaves for five weeks.
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