Senate Judiciary postpones Blanche AG nomination vote over Trump-IRS settlement concerns

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday night postponed the scheduled vote on Thursday to advance the nomination of Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general.

The postponement was due to two key Republican senators saying they still had concerns about the Department of Justice‘s controversial settlement of President Donald Trump‘s lawsuit against the IRS.

Blanche, as acting attorney general, oversaw that settlement, which created a now-canceled $1.8 billion fund that could have compensated allies of Trump, and which barred the IRS from audits or other enforcement actions related to tax returns filed by the president, his family or business entities before the settlement was reached in May.

Shortly before the postponement was announced, the DOJ sent a new response to the senators, John Cornyn of Texas and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis. But the response was not enough to resolve their concerns.

Blanche’s nomination, to get a vote by the full Senate, needs to be advanced by a majority of the Judiciary Committee, which was set to vote Thursday morning. The committee has 12 Republican members and 10 Democrats. Every Democrat is expected to vote against Blanche.

If Cornyn or Tillis were to vote against Blanche, it would prevent his nomination from moving to the full Senate.

Tillis had warned that he did not expect his concerns to be fully addressed in time to sway his vote for Blanche by Thursday morning.

A Senate Judiciary spokesperson said in a statement that its chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, “works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure.”

“Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the spokesperson said.

“Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job.”

Grassley had met with Cornyn and Tillis in Cornyn’s office before the postponement was announced.

A DOJ spokesperson told MS NOW, “The Department has been in regular communication with Committee members for weeks, and we look forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns.”

Cornyn earlier Wednesday morning, for the second time, called off a meeting with Blanche that was meant to address his concerns about the settlement.

Cornyn said he canceled the sit-down because the DOJ had not met his demands to clarify provisions of the settlement that shield Trump and others from IRS audits for tax returns filed before the settlement.

“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or, you know, go along,” Cornyn said, MS NOW reported. “But they’re mistaken.”

Cornyn also said he believed Tillis “is pretty much on the same page as I am.”

“So they better get real, and there’s not much time left,” Cornyn said.

Tillis, like Cornyn, has expressed concerns about the DOJ’s so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” for people who were purportedly victims of prosecutorial overreach by the department.

Blanche, a former criminal defense lawyer for Trump, in early June said he canceled that fund after members of Congress harshly criticized it. But Tillis, Cornyn and others have asked for a written guarantee that the fund cannot be revived.

Asked if he would vote “no” on advancing Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate, Cornyn replied: “Well, I’m not prepared to vote ‘yes.’ Let me put it that way.”

Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he believes Blanche’s nomination “is going through quite nicely.” He also said he believed Cornyn is upset with him because Trump did not endorse the senator in Texas’ Republican primary, which was won by state Attorney General Kex Paxton, who received the president’s endorsement.

The settlement that Cornyn wants amended resolved a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over the illegal leaking of his tax records by an agency contractor.

Cornyn wants, in writing from the DOJ, assurances that Blanche gave in his confirmation hearing about provisions of the settlement that shielded Trump, family members and business entities from IRS audits and enforcement actions related to tax returns filed by the date of the settlement.

Blanche had testified that the settlement is not intended to protect people who were not parties to the lawsuit, that it is not intended to provide prospective immunity from tax audits, and that it does not apply to any government agency other than the IRS and Treasury Department.

“To me, it’s pretty simple. They can state that in a modified release form, and that would be responsive to my request,” Cornyn said. “But for some reason, I don’t know whether it’s the staff of the DOJ or who it is, but they simply … know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it.”

A DOJ official, in a statement to CNBC when asked about Cornyn’s claim, said, “The DOJ provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”

“We look forward to further discussion around any outstanding concerns,” the official said.

Cornyn said earlier, “I haven’t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I’ve requested.”

Cornyn is set to leave the Senate in January, having lost a Republican primary runoff to Paxton. And Tillis is retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in January, leaving both senators in a position to take political positions without concern for winning reelection.