The fate of Todd Blanche’s nomination to be President Donald Trump’s attorney general is up in the air, with a key GOP senator indicating Tuesday he has not yet received the assurances he needs to vote in support.
Sen. John Cornyn said he hasn’t received an update from the Justice Department on his and Sen. Thom Tillis’ demand that the “anti-weaponization” fund be formally killed before they vote in favor of advancing Blanche’s nomination.
Both Republicans sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to vote Thursday morning on whether to move forward on Blanche’s nomination. Without their backing, the vote will fail.
“They’ve been kind of radio silent for the last 24 hours,” Cornyn said of the DOJ. “I think my staff is talking to them, but we’re not — they know what they need to do. They just don’t want to do it.”
Blanche has insisted that the “anti-weaponization” fund — a controversial pool of money set aside to award people who claim to have been wronged by the Justice Department, including possibly January 6, 2021, rioters — is no longer happening.
