Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is reportedly slated to lobby outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Wednesday morning, after the Texas Republican held up his confirmation to take the mantle fully.
Cornyn lost his primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after the decisive intervention of President Donald Trump, ensuring the embittered Republican would be a thorn in his side for the remainder of his term. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cornyn is able to single-handedly block Blanche’s nomination from proceeding, and he’s staking his vote in favor of killing the anti-weaponization fund and scaling back the president’s audit immunity.
Recommended Stories
“I told them we need paper,” Cornyn told Punchbowl News. “We need it in writing. We don’t need well-wishes or impressions. We need concrete confirmation of what [Blanche] testified to.”
“They’ve made good progress, I think, on the 1776 fund, but I think we have some work, and leaving that audited immunity in there, but very narrowly tailored,” he said earlier in the week.
The meeting of the two is set to take place at 10:30 a.m., according to the outlet. It will likely be decisive for Blanche’s fortunes.
Cornyn, now more blunt since he isn’t beholden to any elections, signaled an image of implacability in a Tuesday post on X.
JOHN CORNYN SETTLES INTO ‘LIBERATING’ LEVERAGE ROLE ON HIS WAY TO RETIREMENT
“Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” he wrote.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), the other Senate Judiciary Committee Republican not beholden to the November elections, is being equally stubborn. He’s attached the same conditions to his vote, and said the Department of Justice “seems to be OK with” the two conditions.
