Republicans are making clear that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche won’t have a cakewalk to Senate confirmation as members of the Judiciary Committee scrutinize everything from his Jan. 6 comments to his allegiance to President Donald Trump.At least three members of the committee, tasked with vetting Justice Department nominees, are publicly undecided on whether to give Blanche a vote on the Senate floor. He was approved as deputy attorney general a year ago with unanimous Republican support, but the political climate has changed drastically since then.Not only must Blanche win over Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who’s promised to write off any nominee who’s spoken approvingly of Jan. 6 defendants, but he must also get past Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who was freshly ousted by a Trump-backed challenger.
A third Republican, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), is far less of a wild card, but all three are so far noncommittal. Other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee expressed support for Blanche on Thursday.
“Most of our members are pretty deferential to who the president wants in some of these key positions,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), before pointing out that Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April.
