John Cornyn stalls Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination over $1.8bn fund and Trump audit shield

A deal under fire

The dispute centres on a rare settlement that the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, brokered in May to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit Donald Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service. Under its terms, Trump and his family would be shielded from future IRS audits, and a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponisation fund" would compensate individuals who claim they were targets of political persecution. Bipartisan backlash was immediate. A federal judge this month ruled the settlement illegal, saying Blanche had worked on behalf of both the government and Trump as a private citizen.

I'm not prepared to vote yes.

In June, Blanche announced he was scrapping the fund, but he has repeatedly declined to put that commitment in writing. Cornyn and fellow judiciary committee Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina are demanding written confirmation that the fund is dead and that the audit immunity will not apply to future tax liabilities or extend beyond the original plaintiffs. Cornyn told reporters on Wednesday that he had received nothing responsive.

Maybe they think I'm just going to give up or, you know, go along, but they're mistaken.

Cornyn's personal stake

The procedural standoff carries a personal dimension. For much of Trump's term, Cornyn aligned himself closely with the president, but Trump declined to endorse him in his Texas primary and instead backed Ken Paxton. Paxton crushed Cornyn in the runoff, effectively ending the senator's re-election bid. Now, as a lame duck, Cornyn is using his remaining leverage on the judiciary panel to extract concessions the White House has so far been unwilling to memorialise.

The demands and the deadline

Cornyn scrapped a scheduled meeting with Blanche on Wednesday morning and gave the Justice Department until 4 p.m. to produce clear written guarantees. He wants a "red-line strikeout" of the problematic language. Tillis expressed optimism that a deal could still be reached, describing the impasse as a "drafting exercise" rather than a fundamental disagreement over objectives. But Justice Department officials, who have been communicating with Cornyn's staff, were under the impression that Blanche had already addressed many of the senator's concerns, including the possibility of a $100 million windfall for Trump.

I really do believe it's just a drafting exercise. I don't believe that we're apart in terms of the objective.

Committee vote in jeopardy

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Thursday on whether to advance Blanche's nomination. Every Republican on the panel must vote yes for the nomination to proceed to a floor debate. Cornyn said the vote could be postponed if his demands are not met, and Tillis indicated he would not break ranks. Blanche, who can remain acting attorney general indefinitely, thus faces the prospect of a deadlocked committee that would stall his permanent confirmation.