Senate panel advances Todd Blanche as attorney general after deal on $1.8bn fund

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines on Tuesday to advance Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general, clearing the way for a full Senate vote this week. The vote came after two Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, dropped their opposition late Sunday when Blanche agreed to rescind a $1.776 billion fund that critics called a slush fund for Trump allies.

The deal that broke the impasse

Cornyn and Tillis had threatened to block the nomination over the Anti-Weaponization Fund, created as part of a settlement between the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. Under the deal, Trump dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax records in exchange for the fund and immunity from future IRS audits for himself, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization. On 13 July, US District Judge Kathleen Williams sanctioned the lawyers who arranged the settlement, writing that the lawsuit had been improperly employed to justify the fund.

Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi was fired in April over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, initially refused to provide written assurances that the fund would not be revived. After days of pressure, he posted signed documents on X on Sunday night officially rescinding the order. Cornyn and Tillis then announced their support, with Senator Charles Grassley saying the issue had been put "to bed once and for all."

It's a crime that it took so long for the Department of Justice to provide stronger assurances on the fund.

Democratic fury

Democrats on the committee voted unanimously against Blanche, accusing Republicans of papering over concerns about his loyalty to Trump. Senator Cory Booker held up a tweet from a conservative supporter arguing the fund could simply be recreated later and shouted, "This is ridiculous! We got nothing! No guarantees whatsoever that this slush fund can't go forward."

He is about Trump and not truth. He is about corruption and not the Constitution. He is about being Donald Trump's lawyer and not the people's lawyer.

Booker also mocked the two holdout senators, asking, "Where's the beef?" Other Democrats noted that Blanche's close ties to Trump were evident at his confirmation hearing last month, when he said "I'm his lawyer" before correcting to "was his lawyer", a moment Senator Adam Schiff later called a Freudian slip.

The Epstein files and other concerns

Tillis had also demanded that Blanche meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein before he would support the nomination. Blanche complied, but the women who met him said they left feeling "dismissed and demoralised," according to the Financial Times. Blanche's role in the Justice Department's release of Epstein files, including an interview he conducted with Ghislaine Maxwell, drew further criticism from Democrats. Blanche was Trump's personal lawyer in some of his most sensitive cases, including the hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and two other prosecutions brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

What comes next

The full Senate is expected to vote on Blanche's confirmation this week, where Republicans hold a majority. Trump had threatened to pull the nomination and resubmit it next year when Cornyn and Tillis would no longer be in Congress, but the weekend deal averted that. Still, Trump has made clear he still wants the fund. Asked on Tuesday whether he was concerned, Cornyn said, "Well, there's nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter is that it's dead and that's all we could do under these circumstances."