Todd Blanche Nomination Falters as Cornyn Cancels Meeting Over IRS Dispute

Todd Blanche Confirmation Vote Hangs in the Balance as Cornyn Cancels Meeting

The confirmation process for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hit a major roadblock on Wednesday when Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn abruptly called off an eleventh-hour sit-down with the nominee. The canceled meeting directly threatens a scheduled Thursday morning vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate, according to apnews.com.

Cornyn, serving as a crucial swing vote on the 22-member committee, told reporters that the Justice Department had failed to meet his demands for written clarity regarding a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, informed Cornyn that the panel required a definitive stance by 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday to determine if Thursday’s vote could proceed.

Sen.

Asked by reporters whether he intended to vote in favor of advancing Blanche, Cornyn was blunt. Well, I’m not prepared to vote ‘yes.’ Let me put it that way, he stated, noting that he had yet to see a single piece of writing from the department that adequately addressed his concerns.

The Fight Over the $1.776 Billion Fund and IRS Audit Immunity

At the center of the legislative standoff is the legal settlement resolving Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS stemming from the 2019 leak of his tax records by an agency contractor. The agreement, engineered by the Justice Department, originally contained two major flashpoints: a now-scrapped plan to establish a $1.776 billion (or $1.8 billion in alternate references) Anti-Weaponization Fund to compensate individuals claiming prosecutorial overreach, and a provision shielding Trump, family members, and business entities from IRS audits for tax returns filed before the settlement date.

While bipartisan backlash prompted the Justice Department to walk away from the multibillion-dollar fund earlier in the summer, lawmakers remain deeply uneasy. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche insisted that the fund was dead and that the settlement never started.

When Cornyn noted that the contract specified it could only be modified upon the written agreement of all parties—and that no such written cancellation of the fund existed—Blanche conceded under questioning that Trump’s legal counsel could theoretically bring a breach of contract lawsuit if the government failed to execute it. That admission left Cornyn unsettled, prompting his ongoing refusal to back the nomination without formal, written retractions.

Republican Defections Threaten the Senate Judiciary Committee Timeline

The Senate Judiciary Committee comprises 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats, with all Democratic members widely expected to vote against Blanche. Because of that solid opposition, a single dissenting Republican vote on the panel is enough to completely halt the nomination. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican on the committee, has aligned closely with Cornyn’s stance on the settlement provisions.

Both Cornyn and Tillis are nearing the ends of their tenure in the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department pushed back against claims of inaction.

Despite those last-minute overtures, Cornyn maintained his skepticism late Wednesday as the deadline approached. With Chairman Grassley pressing for a firm headcount and Blanche needing every Republican vote to clear the committee, the future of the acting attorney general’s confirmation hung entirely on whether a written compromise could be reached before the panel’s gavel fell.