Cornyn Cancels Second Meeting With Blanche, Leaves AG Nomination Hanging Hours Before Committee Vote

Todd Blanche's path to a full Senate confirmation vote for attorney general narrowed further Wednesday, when Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called off a scheduled meeting with the acting attorney general for the second time. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to advance Blanche's nomination, and Cornyn's support is not locked down.

Cornyn told reporters he canceled the sit-down because the Justice Department has not delivered written assurances he's demanded for weeks, according to the Associated Press and CNBC. Asked why the DOJ hasn't satisfied his concerns, Cornyn said flatly, "beats me."

"They know what they need to do but they simply refuse to do it," Cornyn said, according to Forbes. "I haven't seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I've requested."

The fight centers on the settlement the Trump administration reached with the IRS over the 2019 leak of Trump's tax returns by an agency contractor, part of a $10 billion lawsuit Trump had filed against the agency, according to WSLS. The deal included two pieces that have drawn bipartisan scrutiny: an agreement shielding Trump, his family and his business entities from IRS audits on tax returns filed before the settlement, and a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" meant to compensate people who claim the Justice Department was used against them politically.

The DOJ announced in June it was scrapping the weaponization fund after bipartisan backlash, and Blanche told senators at his July 15 confirmation hearing that the fund is "dead." A federal judge has also since tossed the underlying settlement, according to Courthouse News. But Cornyn and Tillis want that declared dead in writing, not just asserted in testimony, because the settlement's language could allow Trump or other plaintiffs to revive the fund through a future lawsuit, Cornyn said during the hearing.

A federal judge tossing a settlement doesn't automatically bar the same parties from negotiating similar terms again. If the underlying language creating the fund still exists somewhere in a legal filing, a written revocation closes that door for good. Cornyn wants that door shut before he'll vote yes.

Tillis has raised the same concern, telling Politico Tuesday he's "pretty much following Cornyn's cue." Cornyn told reporters he believes Tillis is "pretty much on the same page as I am."

That matters because the Judiciary Committee splits 12 Republicans to 10 Democrats, and every Democrat is expected to vote against Blanche, according to CNBC. If either Cornyn or Tillis votes no, or simply doesn't show, Blanche's nomination stalls in committee and never reaches the Senate floor.

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, set a 4 p.m. ET Wednesday deadline for the DOJ to satisfy Cornyn's demands before deciding whether Thursday's vote proceeds as scheduled, Cornyn told reporters.

WSLS reported a person familiar with the matter said the DOJ had actually provided Cornyn's office with a written proposal addressing both the audit immunity language and the fund. That detail doesn't appear in the AP, CNBC, Forbes or Courthouse News accounts, which frame the DOJ as having produced nothing in writing.

Blanche has drawn a distinction lawmakers are still pressing him on: he's said the audit immunity deal covers existing audits but doesn't protect Trump from scrutiny of future tax filings, according to WSLS. Cornyn wants that scope nailed down in writing too, not just stated in testimony.

Cornyn is a lame duck. He lost his Republican primary in May, according to WSLS, meaning he has nothing left to lose politically by holding out. That gives him leverage most senators wouldn't have this late in a term, and it's part of why Grassley and the DOJ are scrambling against a same-day deadline rather than simply waiting him out.

The DOJ has not publicly responded to the specific demand for a written declaration killing the fund. A DOJ spokesperson did not return Courthouse News' request for comment, and Grassley's office did not respond to a similar request.

Thursday's committee vote will show whether the DOJ met the 4 p.m. deadline, whether Cornyn and Tillis got the paper trail they're demanding, and whether Blanche's nomination reaches the Senate floor at all this week. If it doesn't, the acting attorney general keeps running the department indefinitely, with no confirmed successor and an unresolved fight over how dead the weaponization fund really is.