Three Outgoing GOP Senators Stall Todd Blanche's Bid to Run the DOJ Permanently

Todd Blanche's path to becoming President Trump's permanent Attorney General is stuck, and it's stuck because of his own party.

Three Republican senators, none of whom are running for reelection, are the roadblock. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and John Cornyn of Texas have all signaled skepticism about confirming Blanche, who currently serves as acting Attorney General.

The sticking point is a nearly $2 billion fund described as an "anti-weaponization fund" that was established under Blanche's oversight at the DOJ. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this month, Blanche told lawmakers flatly that the fund was "dead."

Cornyn isn't buying it. He told reporters on July 15 that the fund "could be revived at a future date," according to reporting reviewed for this story. If a sitting senator on the committee that controls the nomination doesn't trust the nominee's own testimony about a $2 billion pot of money, that's a real problem for the nominee.

Tillis and Cornyn both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Republicans can only afford to lose one vote and still move Blanche's nomination forward. Losing two sinks it in committee before it ever reaches the Senate floor. Complicating things further, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is currently recovering from a fall and hasn't been available to help manage the process.

Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, put the political reality bluntly in comments to CNN on Friday, July 31. "I don't see him being confirmed at least certainly through the end of the year, honestly," Fetterman said. "Trump has zero leverage, whether it's Cornyn or Cassidy or Tillis or these senators that are leaving."

Fetterman's assessment carries weight even though he's a Democrat with obvious incentive to highlight Trump's weakness. Tillis, Cassidy, and Cornyn are all on their way out of the Senate. Trump doesn't have a primary threat to dangle over them, doesn't have a reelection fight to leverage, and can't threaten their political future because they don't have one in the Senate. That's a legitimate structural problem for the White House, not partisan spin.

Trump appears to recognize this. On Thursday, July 30, he said he would consider temporarily pulling Blanche's nomination and waiting until Cornyn and Tillis leave office in January, when new senators take their seats.

But Cornyn threw cold water on that idea too. He pointed out that his own departure doesn't guarantee smoother sailing for Blanche, because Texas voters could send a Democrat to fill his seat in the November elections. That would swap a skeptical Republican for a senator who might oppose Blanche outright, making the math even worse for the nomination.

The actual objection is straightforward: three sitting Republicans don't trust that a $2 billion fund tied to the DOJ's internal operations is truly shut down, based on the acting Attorney General's own sworn assurances. If Blanche is telling the truth and the fund is dead, he should be able to demonstrate that with documentation, not just testimony. If there's ambiguity about whether nearly $2 billion could be "revived," senators asking hard questions before confirming the nation's top law enforcement official is exactly what the confirmation process is supposed to do.

None of this means Blanche is unqualified or that the objections are proven correct. No evidence has surfaced in this reporting that the fund has actually been revived or misused. Cornyn's concern is about future risk, not a documented current violation.

What happens next isn't clear. Trump could withdraw and resubmit the nomination after January, betting that new Republican appointees will be more cooperative. He could try to pressure Tillis and Cassidy directly, though Fetterman's read is that neither man has much left to lose politically. Or the White House could try to satisfy Cornyn's concern with paperwork proving the fund is genuinely closed, which would be the most straightforward fix if the fund really is dead.

Until one of those things happens, Blanche runs the Justice Department in an acting capacity, and the permanent confirmation sits parked in committee.