NOW PLAYING
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) late Wednesday evening canceled a scheduled meeting to consider the nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the Justice Department amid opposition from some GOP senators on the panel.
“Chairman Grassley 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,” a spokesperson for Grassley said in a statement.
“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.”
Blanche’s nomination has run aground with two Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), over a dispute about whether the administration could revive a once-proposed $1.776 billion fund for victims of “weaponization” by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Both have said their vote was contingent on the fund being formally and permanently disbanded.
A “no” vote from either Republican — both of whom are leaving Congress at the end of the year — could have doomed the nomination in committee.
The panel’s announcement followed a day of anticipation about the fate of Blanche’s nomination, which appeared increasingly precarious as the day wore on.
As late as 7 p.m. Wednesday, an increasingly frustrated-seeming Cornyn told reporters that the DOJ had “stonewalled” his request, which he’d been making for months.
“They’ve simply refused to cooperate,” Cornyn said.
Tillis also suggested the meeting could be “a failure” if it were held Thursday. He said he would not show up to the meeting if it were held without a deal.
“If there’s pressure on doing the markup, then I don’t want the chairman to have a failed markup. Then I would just not be there to make quorum, so he wouldn’t be confronted with that eventuality,” he said.
“I’d say it’s a coin toss,” Tillis said on whether it would happen. “I mean, we’re running out of time.”
Blanche made the rounds on the Hill late Wednesday afternoon amid pressure to draft an agreement that would formally close out the $1.776 anti-weaponization fund.
Cornyn told reporters earlier in the day he had sent a “red line” to the Justice Department but said Blanche otherwise failed to meet with him.
Asked Wednesday morning what the holdup was, Cornyn said, “Beats me. Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or, you know, go along, but they’re mistaken.”
“Tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for,” Cornyn said of DOJ, when asked for an update several hours later.
“We actually sent them a red line strikeout of what we need, and they just need to make a decision. And if they do, then we’ll proceed with the markup tomorrow.”
“I’m waiting for what we asked for a long time ago. I suppose, since he’s a party to the lawsuit, his interests may be affected,” Cornyn added.
Tillis had largely left the dealmaking in Cornyn’s hands, but said during Blanche’s confirmation hearing “I want to stick a fork in this turkey of a” $1.776 billion fund.
Framed as a settlement in Trump’s $10 billion suit over the leaking of his IRS records, the so-called anti-weaponization fund was meant to provide settlements to others who claimed they were wronged by the federal government.
But the fund riled up GOP and Democratic senators alike, including those opposed to handing out payments to Jan. 6 offenders.
While Blanche has said DOJ is “not moving forward with the fund. Period,” he has yet to back that claim by putting anything in writing.
A federal judge who was overseeing the Trump-IRS litigation earlier this month found the settlement essentially amounted to collusion, saying the parties were never truly adverse and that Trump “brought to manipulate the judicial process.”
The discussion over the fund comes as The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Justice Department has reached a million dollar settlement agreement with anti-abortion activist Paul Vaughn.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags John Cornyn Thom Tillis Todd BlancheCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Senate News
See All
State Watch Florida AG launching investigation into Fauci after Senate hearing by Max Rego 50 minutes ago State Watch / 50 minutes ago 
