Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
Two key Republican senators said on Monday they would support Todd Blanche’s nomination for U.S. Attorney-General, paving the way for his confirmation after reaching a deal that would rescind an “anti-weaponization” package widely criticized as a slush fund for supporters of President Donald Trump.
Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had held up Mr. Blanche’s nomination as they sought written confirmation that the Justice Department would not move forward with the US$1.8-billion fund. Mr. Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Mr. Trump now serving as acting Attorney-General, posted a statement on social media on Sunday saying the fund had been rescinded.
“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon,” Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis said in a joint statement.
Their support likely enables the committee to advance Mr. Blanche’s nomination on Tuesday. A vote by the full Senate could come as early as Saturday, unless Democrats agree to an earlier vote.
The agreement appears to resolve one of the highest-profile Republican challenges to Mr. Trump in Congress, led by the two lawmakers. Mr. Tillis is retiring in January and Mr. Cornyn lost his primary for the Republican nomination after Mr. Trump endorsed other Senate candidates in each of their states.
The fund was created as part of a legal settlement to resolve a US$10-billion lawsuit Mr. Trump filed against his own government, alleging that the Internal Revenue Service had mishandled his tax records.
Supporters say the fund was intended to compensate individuals they argue were unfairly targeted by the federal government. Critics, including Mr. Tillis and Mr. Cornyn, said it could direct taxpayer money to Mr. Trump allies, including those who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Mr. Trump said Monday he was aware that the two Republican senators said they will vote to advance Mr. Blanche’s nomination. “I understand there’s been a sign-off, but ... I don’t know what they agreed,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “I think Todd Blanche agreed to reconfirm things that he’s already said, and what he said was OK.”
The Republican senators had also objected to a related order that barred the IRS from auditing past tax returns for Mr. Trump, his relatives and his companies for any tax returns filed before May 18. They said they wanted clarifications to narrow to whom and how it applied to ensure that Mr. Trump did not receive blanket tax immunity forever.
Mr. Blanche obliged, specifying that it only applies to Mr. Trump, his sons and the family business, and that their future tax returns could still be investigated.
“The Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share,” Mr. Tillis and Mr. Cornyn said.
Mr. Blanche’s order stated that the tax order “applied by its terms only retroactively.” Critics of the Mr. Blanche order said immunity for Mr. Trump’s past tax returns could still save the president millions, and that the settlement agreement requires the approval of both sides, including Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers, to change it. Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers did not sign the order and have not publicly commented on the decision.
“They don’t pull back on the ongoing attempts to give the President, his family, and his affiliates unauthorized immunity from tax audits,” Brandon DeBot, policy director at the non-partisan Tax Law Center, said in a statement. “They don’t do anything new to stop the President from trying to bring back the fund, as he threatened to this weekend.”
Mr. Blanche has served as acting Attorney-General since April, when Mr. Trump fired Pam Bondi.