Todd Blanche attorney general nomination gains Cornyn and Tillis support
Two GOP senators will back Todd Blanche after DOJ formally ended a $1.8 billion fund and narrowed an IRS settlement’s reach.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina say they will support the Todd Blanche attorney general nomination after the Justice Department formally shut down a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund and put limits on a separate tax-audit agreement in writing.
The Republican senators said Monday that the new DOJ order answered the objections that led them to hold up Blanche’s path through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Blanche is serving as acting attorney general and is President Donald Trump’s nominee for the permanent post, CBS News and the Texas Tribune reported.
Why did Cornyn and Tillis back Todd Blanche’s nomination?
The pair had demanded more than Blanche’s earlier verbal assurances that the so-called anti-weaponization fund would not go ahead. In their joint statement, Cornyn and Tillis said the department had now issued a formal order ending the fund and a binding written clarification limiting the audit-settlement protections to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs and the relevant government agencies.
They said they expected to vote to advance Blanche from the Judiciary Committee soon. That is a committee step, not final confirmation by the full Senate.
The committee had postponed a planned vote on Blanche the previous Thursday after the two senators withheld support. It was scheduled to meet Tuesday morning, according to CBS News and PBS NewsHour.
What did the DOJ order change?
The fund grew out of a May settlement of Trump’s civil lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns by a government contractor. It was set at $1.8 billion and was intended to allow compensation claims from people alleging they had been targeted or treated unfairly by the federal government, CBS News reported.
Congressional criticism came from both parties, including concern that people charged or convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol could seek taxpayer-funded payments. PBS NewsHour reported that the order, issued late Sunday, officially rescinded the May directive that created the program.
According to the order described by PBS NewsHour and The Indiana Lawyer, no members had been named to the fund, no money had been transferred, no claims system had been set up and no claims had been paid.
The order also clarified the reach of tax-audit protections included in the settlement. The protections apply retroactively to claims that were open when the settlement was reached and do not cover future tax filings, reports said. Coverage was limited to Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and the Trump Organization.
The underlying written settlement with Trump and his lawyers was not changed, CBS News reported. Rather, the DOJ’s order rescinded the fund and set out the department’s reading of the audit provision’s limits.
Trump had continued to support the fund during the negotiations and had threatened to pursue it if Blanche’s nomination remained blocked, according to CBS News. Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said the new order did not rule out possible future payments through an existing government claims process, a contention reported by The Indiana Lawyer.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.