President Donald Trump said he might temporarily withdraw his nomination of Todd Blanche as US Attorney General and then nominate him again, after Republican Senators John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (North Carolina) declined to support the appointment.
“I have no objection to temporarily removing Todd's name if they don't do the right thing, and reappointing him once Cornyn and Tillis leave office,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Both senators will leave the Senate next year. Cornyn lost his party's nomination after Trump supported state Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the most competitive races among Republicans.
“Maybe John Cornyn is mad at me because I didn't support him,” Trump said Wednesday.
Cornyn and Tillis' argument is to obtain greater guarantees about the agreement in President Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which protected Trump and members of his family from tax audits.
Although Blanche's name is withdrawn before the Senate, she could continue to serve as attorney general. Thomas Berry, director of constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, told RollCall that Blanche's duties could be supported under Section 508, which allows the deputy attorney general to exercise all functions of the attorney general's office in the event of a vacancy.
The center of the dispute between Trump and senators
The center of the dispute is the resolution of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS for $10 billion, a lawsuit that the president tried to withdraw after the Department of Justice – already managed by Blanche as acting prosecutor – agreed to create an “Anti-Immunization Fund” of $1,776 million to compensate those who consider they have been harmed by the judicial system, mainly Trump supporters.
Although the Justice Department announced in June that, amid bipartisan outrage, it had suspended the fund, Trump and his family's immunity agreement from audits remains in place.
Cornyn and Tillis have demanded additional written assurances that the fund was canceled, as well as changes to the immunity memorandum.
"The only thing I can say is that Todd Blanche is exceptional, and it seemed routine to me because he's so good. You just wouldn't find a better person," Trump said Wednesday.
